Tuesday 19 May 2015

Importance of reviews in shortlisting a tour operator in Kenya

A good tour operator can make or break your trip, especially when a trip to places like Kenya would be a once in a lifetime situation, given the distance and cost involved when travelling from other continents in the western world.
Adding to the confusion of the travelers if the plethora of Kenyan tour operators that advertise online, each one seemingly the leader in its industry. In such a situation, which Kenyan safari package should one option for and how should they ensure beforehand that they made the right decision?
When shortlisting between Kenyan tours and safari operators, one must primarily consider review posted online on reputed websites such as the Tripadvisor. The second thing to look is the currency of the reviews. Are they relevant if the reviews were posted 2 years ago? Perhaps the particular Kenyan tour operator has improved on their services, since then, in which case judging them on a stale review will not be fair. The key is to always focus on the latest reviews, and try to find an element of commonality between the reviews.
For example, many of the tour operators offer packages for a top Kenyan destination tour known as the masari mara safaris. If a certain Kenyan safari package was not up to the mark because it overstated the services offered, or if the meals offered during the safari were underwhelming, then the faults would be reported in one or more review. If they were reported by a negligible percentage of people reviewing the Kenyan tour operator, then it would be safe to suggest that the reviews might be ignored since that could be a one off experience reported by someone. If, however, a substantial portion of the reviews point towards the same problem, then future travelers might as well steer clear of that particular Kenyan safari package.
Lastly, a tourist must determine whether the point of criticism of a particular Kenyan tour operator is of any value to them. What if the quality of the meals was of no worth, but the tourist valued the price of the package more? In such a case it still might be safe to go ahead with that particular operator.

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