Trump Businesses Could Lose $100 Million Because Of Bad Online Reviews
Today, activists encircled the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., sparing our hyper-tweeting president no shortage of invective in a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. While the hotel was certainly a focal point of demonstrator’s ire, Trump’s sprawling hospitality empire has also been hit with another form of dissent in recent months: negative online reviews.
Ever since Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, the president’s hotels, restaurants and golf courses have been subjected to a flurry of trolling. According to a study conducted by SignPost, Trump’s empire could stand to lose upwards of $100 million due to the onslaught. That’s right, trolls can chip away at your company’s revenue, especially so when they’re mobilized.
As the study indicates, ratings of Trump properties across the country have tanked 40% since the president was sworn into office. Citing three years of data using Yelp and Google, SignPost was able to declare that the average rating of Trump properties is now 3.7 out of 5-stars. That -- for a guy who markets his brand as the gold-standard in travel, leisure and heavily burnt ketchup-steaks -- is not a good look.
The ramifications of this are quite simple: If a business is marred by shitty reviews, people spend their money elsewhere. And the report’s forecast is not good, as it states: “These calculations are conservative and according to the most recent revenue estimations...the actual cost if these trends continue could be in excess of $100 million.”
This isn’t exactly new for Trump, whose businesses have received a fair amount of shade since before his inauguration. Prominently, Vanity Fair bashed Trump Grill, a steakhouse in NYC, noting that it “could be the worst restaurant in America.” The restaurant lost a star on Yelp following the publication of the article.
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