Unless you have already had a good experience with a product or service, chances are you look online for reviews when it’s time to make a purchase. But, what about bike tour reviews?
Nowadays, to make sound buying decisions we rely on technology, normally through an app or website. Yelp and TripAdvisor have become almost daily, trusted tools and Google itself can reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Year after year, especially with mobile technology going mainstream, we have changed the way we make buying decisions; without realizing it, we are incapable (many of us) of making a decision without some kind of binary code feedback.
Online vendors (think Amazon) post real reviews right next to their products. Virtual communities in many fields, including cycling and travel, make reviews the center of their shared passion. In a place like Mtbr.com (I love this site!) individual experiences become common knowledge, and a product can rise to the stars, or get ditched pretty badly. Reviews are everywhere.
Of course, marketers sometimes look for shortcuts and more than once TripAdvisor was caught with great reviews of fictional restaurants. They were played by bloggers and journalists that wanted to raise awareness around the “review universe.”
But we love reviews and we are pretty good at spotting reviews by so called “company plants” or detractors that want to hurt a competitor. And clever algorithms can often cut off impostors.
I was surprised, several years ago, to find out that multi-day bike tour reviews were not in the same arena with other products. Bike tour companies were nowhere near to stepping into the ring with car makers and dentists.
Some companies preferred it that way. Maintaining a low profile can come in handy if you are sloppy on execution.
But I think that most travel companies (and the industry and consumers) would benefit from more exposure. Things are finally changing in that sense and it could not be otherwise because the adventure travel industry is a healthy, growing sector.
So, here is how to do your own due diligence.
Bike Tour Reviews - If you google ‘bike tour reviews’ chances are you will end up here at bike tour reviews (first and second link on my Google search). The content is good and the back end is robust enough to return the reviews just fine, when interrogated.
Why we like it: the domain.
Beware: The is no search feature to find companies who offer what you are looking for (country, price). All companies are listed alphabetically.
Bike Tour Buzz - Describes itself as an “independently run resource dedicated to helping you find your dream bike tour." It’s somewhat similar to bike tour review; but it does not hurt your eyes as much.
Why we like it: The bike tour guide seems over simplistic but the content is sound.
Beware: too few reviews to be 100% reliable (considering the thousands of tours that Backroads alone runs).
TripAdvisor - More than 60 million monthly visitors are turning to TripAdvisor for reviews and advice when planning a vacation or looking for ideas and insights on a region. How can you not love TripAdvisor?
Why we like it: insights and millions of them.
Beware: in spite of so many reviews, most are about daylong bike tours such as city sightseeing.
Yelp - Another monster with an average of 142 million people visiting the site every month. Their dominance is so insane that using its app has become a new verb: “why don’t you yelp it, amico?”
Why we like it: the app never lets you down. Tags right on the text of the review.
Beware: in spite of the great number of reviews, it’s mostly about local businesses and the reviews on international bike tours are a little more than a handful (26 on Backroads – fewer than the pub across the street).
And…Facebook – In 2007 FB launched the fan pages (business pages for the most part). Later, FB made it possible to leave reviews on the timeline of those pages. With roughly 1.5 billion active users monthly, it’s easy to predict that Facebook will have a big role when it comes to reviewing bike tour companies. We have not yet scratched the surface of that (I think FB has not yet figured out how to monetize it).
Why we like it: it’s simple. Go to the Reviews section on the left side of the Page's Timeline. Decide how many stars and leave an optional comment.
Beware. The world is watching and your profile is linked to the review. Decide if you want to make your review public or available only to friends.
Of course, some travel companies post their guests reviews on their website or make guests feedback available in other ways (including FB post). Following the hotel industry, they are learning to create controlled feedback loops. The problem is that those are all good! And you want to hear the not-so-good aspects of a bike tour or hiking tour experience.
As a manager and entrepreneur in the travel business, I have to read reviews (and of course I talk to real people).
I’ve found that two complaints stand out when analyzing bad reviews of bike tour companies. And they are (not necessarily in this order):
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Had to cancel my trip and they kept the money (same as they did not allow me to take the tour on a future date). While I can empathize with that, I must advise travelers to read and compare cancellation policies with the same attention they read about itineraries and hotels. And, buy travel insurance. Should you have to cancel, you will not lose your money and temper.
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The guides did not know what they were doing (same as were rude, unfriendly etc). Most travel companies claim in their brochures that they have the best guides (not possible). The truth is that it takes experience and many travel companies rely on young enthusiastic guides that consider guiding a summer job and not a profession. That’s too bad, because it’s the traveler’s valuable time at stake. On the other hand, a guide over 50 might not have that fresh, contagious enthusiasm. Personally, I would go with the grumpy, experienced guide any day.
Travelers crave authentic experiences and they tend to appreciate local guides; that is mirrored in their reviews.
While bike tour companies should listen and not be afraid of reviews, travelers should do their part and review their bike tour experience. Unfortunately, as of now, a modern, specific website does not yet exist.
One final piece of advice. Talk to real people as part of your due diligence. All reputable companies make it possible to contact some past guests of theirs and get a feel for their experience. If you are able to connect (and they are kind enough to help you) ask them who else you may contact. That way, you might get another opinion not from the first line of endorsers.
Remember, international tour operators have a huge challenge running operations six or more time zones away from them and they often struggle to have a good grasp on what actually happens on the ground. When I was general manager at Ciclismo Classico I was going back and forth like a yo-yo. At Tourissimo (we are a Destination Management Company), I am in Italy during the whole tour season supervising and running tours myself.
If you think something bad happened, consider picking up the phone and talking to a manager at the travel company. Again, they might be clueless about a tour a world apart and that they have never run themselves.
I hope this will help you when choosing your next travel company. Share it via your social media channels if you think other people could find it useful.
Update: Stride Travel offers third party tours and it puts lots on emphasis on reviews. Check it out.
