TripAdvisor starts placing symbols next to hotels identified as locations of sexual assault

Site will mark resorts and guest houses with badge for three months in bid to 'wake up' travel industry to realities of abuse and harassment

TripAdvisor, which is based in Needham, Massachusetts, says it has changed its rules about reviews that contain allegations of rape or other crimes (AP)

Responding to what one travel expert categorised as “a wakeup call,” TripAdvisor has begun placing symbols next to hotels and resorts that have been identified as locations of sexual assault and other major concerns.

Based on news reports as well as comments from the TripAdvisor community, the warnings are designed to identify health, safety and discrimination issues in all of the website’s travel categories, said a company spokesman, Kevin Carter.

“These badges will remain on TripAdvisor for up to three months. However, if the issues persist we may extend the duration of the badge,” he said. “These badges are intended to be informative, not punitive.”

Decisions to add or remove a badge will be made by an employee committee, he said. Listings will not be removed from the TripAdvisor website regardless of the number of complaints. “We want consumers to see good and bad reviews of businesses,” Carter said. Comments from users will continue to be posted on the site.

Three resorts in the Playa del Carmen region of Mexico were those flagged by TripAdvisor, including the hotel ranked at No. 2 by users, the Grand Velas Riviera Maya; the hotel ranked at No. 4, the Iberostar Paraiso Maya; and the fifth-ranked hotel, the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo. Each had received thousands of reviews.

TripAdvisor issued a public apology a week ago to Kristie Love, 35, of Dallas, after The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that TripAdvisor had repeatedly deleted her 2010 forum post about the Paraiso Maya resort, where she said she had been raped by a security guard. TripAdvisor said it had run afoul of a former policy that allowed only “family-friendly” language. A subsequent guest at the same resort told The Journal Sentinel that she tried to write about a sexual assault that occurred there in 2015, but eventually gave up because TripAdvisor said parts of her review relied on information that wasn’t firsthand.

“In that review there’s a line about a doctor making a medical diagnosis. Because it was a third-party medical diagnosis, it constituted hearsay,” a TripAdvisor spokesman, Brian Hoyt, told The New York Times last week.

As part of its new policy, TripAdvisor will try to be more clear about why reviews are rejected. “Our new email communications will clearly articulate the phrase or sentences that are in violation of our policy, inviting the reviewer to make edits and resubmit their review,” Carter said.

The New York Times