Hospitality experts have called on hotels and consumer review websites to show greater co-operation in order to provide 'accurate' feedback.

It follows Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Europe's first conference, which was held at the Hilton London Metropole on 7 February. Guilliaume Thevenot of TripAdvisor told delegates that consumers favour online feedback websites ahead of government-backed rating systems.

However, some panel members hit back by insisting that an official rating system is still needed in addition to online reviews to ensure accuracy. Hotel operators have been urged to engage with online feedback to clarify any inaccuracies, while review websites have been called upon to provide demographic clarity in ratings.

HSMAI Europe president and chief executive officer Ingunn Hofseth said: "Our first ever conference in London brought together some of the greatest minds in the hotel and travel industry from across Europe resulting in a thrilling and lucrative debate on the UK ratings system. "The fact that we are a pan-European organisation meant that we were able to discuss every aspect of key industry issues and start to address them from every possible angle."