This paper explores the influence of consumer
-
generated media
(CGM)
on hospitality
consumers
based
on the
results of
a large
online survey
. Consumers
surveyed like CGM
information when booking travel for a number of reasons primarily as it is developed by ‘real
travellers’; presents a range of different traveller’ opinions
;
and is relevant to the user. At the
same time, there were concerns raised about
relying on CGM when booking travel,
particularly related to the option for hospitality businesses to post ‘fake’ content and for the
opinions presented on these sites to be extremely biased.
 --  International Conference on Hospitality and Leisure Applied Research (I-CHLAR 2011)