About a million out of 26 million reviews submitted on Tripadvisor globally have been found to be fraudulent, an investigation by the travel platform has revealed.
The tourism website's 2021 Review Transparency Report reveals that 3.6 per cent of its reviews last year were fake.
The latest data covers the volume of review contributions to the platform in 2020.
It rejected or removed 2 million reviews and discovered that 3.6 per cent of these were fake.
It is the platform's second transparency report, with the first released in 2019. Last year, 67.1 per cent of the fake reviews were caught before making it on to the site, it said.
“Knowing that you can rely on trusted guidance from travellers who have been there before has never been more important," said Becky Foley, head of trust and safety at Tripadvisor.
"As we continue the work to earn the trust travellers place in our business, we take the enforcement of our community standards incredibly seriously."
The platform uses the best technology and human moderation practices to fight fraud, Ms Foley said.
"This report demonstrates how effective our team, tactics and technology are at maintaining those standards," she said.
After the discovery, Tripadvisor penalised 34,605 properties for fraudulent activity and banned 20,299 members for failing to abide by its community standards in 2020.
Tripadvisor fraud investigators also identified 65 new paid review sites and blocked paid review submissions from a total of 372 different sites last year.
The company said it removed paid reviews from 131 countries last year.
“Two years ago, we were the first major review platform to issue a transparency report that detailed the ‘what, why and how’ behind our work to protect travellers from fake reviews," Ms Foley said.
"We said then that our industry must work together to fight fake reviews.
"Other review platforms have since followed our lead, sharing more information on their own efforts to moderate reviews, but there is still more that can be achieved through collaboration.
“We know from our investigations that if a fraudster is trying to infiltrate Tripadvisor with fake reviews, then they are targeting other platforms as well – and they will always follow the path of least resistance.
"We must stay committed, working together and in co-operation with law enforcement agencies to stop fake reviewers and protect travellers.”
Marie Audren, chief executive of Hotrec, the umbrella association of hotels and restaurants in Europe, is urging more companies to be transparent about reviews.
“Over the years, consumer reviews have become an important resource for millions in helping them to make informed decisions and never more so than now.” Ms Audren said.
“On the other hand, fake reviews harm businesses and mislead consumers.
"We urge all platforms to behave transparently and diligently. This is why we highly value Tripadvisor’s latest report that shows the work that goes on behind the scenes to protect travellers from fake reviews.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
