Next up in our Great Minds Series is Valerie Castillo. She is the VP of Marketing at the travel reputation software TrustYou. Valerie took time out of her schedule to speak to us about the current operations at TrustYou.

What is TrustYou doing in the short term to address the way the market has shifted as a result of COVID-19?

As the world’s largest guest feedback platform, we immediately looked at the guest data we have for over 800,000 hotels worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic reached a global level just recently, but all markets were impacted at various levels at different periods of time. Therefore, we created a Travel Health Index (THI) which benchmarks the current review activity with the normal levels of 2019. On a weekly basis, we will update the THI globally and for all 180 countries to see when reviews start to decline, completely stop, and eventually start to increase again. We hope that this will help both local and international hotel brands track the volatility of the travel market.

As things seem to be changing by the day, how do you prioritize the business decisions you are making?

We have to focus on what remains constant – our customers and employees. At the end of the day, all our business decisions will be determined on what our company needs to power through this difficult time, and how our customers can succeed after this crisis is over. We are looking forward to bringing new innovations to the industry that will address the issues that hospitality will have to face in the coming months, including low occupancy and high competition.

How do you think the industry has responded so far and have you seen any examples of strategies that are working?

Our data shows that specific travel sectors have experienced this type of situation before. The US especially, due to the impacts of 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, which largely impacted hotels and airlines. However, I think the most interesting sector to look at is the service industry, i.e. bars, restaurants, and local businesses. They are really getting creative in ways that they haven’t needed to before, and we see others in hospitality are following suit. For example, finding ways to serve the community by delivering meals for people who are most at risk. Also, expanding services and revenue streams by promoting gift vouchers that can be used at a later time. Providing these services now, and staying in business no matter how dire the situation becomes, will ensure that these businesses succeed in the months to come.

How are you working with your partners to communicate and plan for the future?

We continue to work closely with our hotel partners as an extension of their team, planning for the future of their businesses. We will continue to update our product in a way that will benefit hotels in the near future, and for the years to come. The best way to understand that is to listen to their needs and deliver on their feedback.

How are you communicating with your customers?

Due to social distancing, we have moved all our communications virtual, which often can be seen as less personal, but we aim to be as personalized as possible in our digital communications. We will be hosting interactive, targeted customer webinars over the next several months to address clients one-on-one, in small groups, or hundreds of clients at a time who can all learn from each other. While hospitality will be competitive in the months to come, we believe now is the time to band together and deliver ideas for strategies that propel the travel industry forward.

We thank Valerie Castillo for sharing her view on the current climate. Please continue to visit our blog each week for more insights from the travel industry’s top leaders.