Tourists visiting Hue Imperial City

By chance, while surfing Facebook, I saw a Facebooker's review sharing her reviews of her trip to Hue. Many analyses, evaluations, compliments and suggestions were given. One noteworthy piece of information was the scoring and reviews of some restaurants in Hue that the Facebooker gave. There were restaurants that received scores of more than 9, with reviews that the food was tasty and the staff was enthusiastic. But there were also restaurants with low scores, with reviews below average, suggesting that customers should not try them.

Curiously looking into the comments section, I saw many conflicting opinions. Some people said that the restaurants that were rated low were just ordinary restaurants, not branded restaurants, and did not represent the typical Hue dishes. The author of the review responded: “Because I saw many people had reviewed this restaurant with praise, I came to experience it and give my own assessment.”

The story just told is just one of many travel review stories. Although they are just personal experiences, in reality, those reviews have a great impact, and are suggestions for travelers, because they are "real people, real experiences". Huynh Anh Tuyet (30 years old) shared: "I also used to rely on reviews to find places to stay and eat when traveling. There were funny situations where the restaurant was praised by many people as delicious but turned out to be not as shared, the reason was that the review was also an advertisement. But there were also places to eat that were given low scores, but when I tried them, they were very good, because in reality, they suited my taste, each person has their own taste".

In the era of social media development, sharing and accessing information is becoming easier and easier, making the trend of finding travel reviews about “what to eat”, “where to go”, “where to stay” more and more popular. The increasing interest in travel reviews has led to an increasing number of reviewers, some of whom pursue the profession of reviewer, but others of whom review just because they want to give reviews of their experiences through social media.

In fact, although it brings many benefits to viewers, there are also many travel reviews that are only for reference. Because most reviews are based on personal experiences and feelings, the accuracy and suitability depend on the reviewer and the reviewer.

A tour guide in Hue analyzed, for example, Hue food, many people say it has to be spicy to be delicious, but those who can't eat spicy food say Hue food is hard to eat. Or many people praise the cheap shopping and eating in Hue, others say the prices are not as cheap as the reviews, the reason is because they go to different restaurants. In Vietnam, there have been cases where a coffee shop or a place suddenly becomes "hot" after a review, but then, due to the large number of people coming, the destination "falls", causing the quality of service and service to temporarily become bad. This creates a contrasting feeling between the review and the person who comes after the experience.

What is worrying is that nowadays, besides reviews that respect “real people, real events”, there are also many reviews that are paid for advertising to give “exaggerated” and overly complimentary reviews such as: “Don’t miss it”, “must visit this place/restaurant”, “10 points without any buts”… Unhealthy competition between service establishments and unbiased reviewers will lead to incorrect information for the recipient.

According to those working in tourism, relying on travel reviews is good but should be consulted selectively. You can find information from "professional" reviewers, with high reputation, deep understanding of tourism, culture, cuisine ... Besides, tourists should look for many different reviews to approach many review angles. In addition, you can refer to the comments below the reviews to listen to many perspectives, select appropriate information.

Article and photos: HUU PHUC

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/du-lich/review-du-lich-nen-tham-khao-co-chon-loc-154012.html