According to the new report from PhoCusWright Inc. on the role of social media in online travel, OTAs were home to nearly three in four traveler-generated hotel reviews in 2009, while traveler review sites accounted for one-quarter of posted traveler hotel reviews.

Conducted in partnership with Circos Brand Karma, Compete and Travelport, the study analyzed nearly 1.9 million traveler reviews, and visitor referral and conversion traffic from more than 50 social travel Web sites, covering traveler review sites, hotel reviews on OTAs, major travel blogs, social travel networks and trip-sharing sites, as well as general social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

“Traveler review sites—led by TripAdvisor—created and drove the growth of the traveler hotel review category, demonstrating the potential role of user-generated reviews in the trip-planning process,” said Douglas Quinby, senior director, research at PhoCusWright.

“The travel industry obviously took notice, and the major OTAs have remarkably stepped up their game in capturing reviews from their customers and incorporating the content into their hotel shopping path. Travel companies must keep a close eye not only on review sites such as TripAdvisor, but the growing volume of review content on OTAs as well.”

Traffic & Activity is the first release in PhoCusWright’s Social Media in Travel series, which will feature a range of reports, articles and spotlights exploring the dynamic relationship between social media and online travel.

Featured image credit (Smiling couple with laptop) : iStock