Reviews help the next traveller choose well. These guidelines explain how to write a review that helps, what we do not publish, and how reviews are checked. They apply to every review, photo and reply on Tanzania Tour Operators (TTO).
1. Who can write a review
- You need an account, and you must have used the business yourself: travelled with the operator, stayed at the place or eaten at the restaurant.
- One review per person per business. If something changes, tell us and we can update it.
- Owners, managers, employees, relatives and paid friends of a business, and its competitors, may not review it.
- You may not offer or accept payment, discounts, free trips or any other reward in return for a review, or write one because someone asked you to give a certain score.
2. What makes a helpful review
- Write what happened. Who guided you, what you ate, where you slept, what the road, camp or weather was like. Details help more than adjectives.
- Be fair. Say what was good and what could be better. Rate each part honestly.
- Add the trip details (who you travelled with, when, which tour) so others can compare with their own plans.
- Share your own photos. Up to five, taken by you, showing the real experience. Avoid photos where other guests, and especially children, can be recognised.
- Stay on topic. Write about your experience with this business, not about other businesses, politics or the website.
3. What we do not publish
We will not publish, and may remove, a review or photo that:
- is not based on the writer’s own experience, or is about a business the writer is connected to;
- contains abuse, hate, threats, discrimination or sexual content, or targets a person by name in a way that is personal rather than about the service;
- makes serious accusations (such as theft, fraud or a crime) without evidence. Report these to the authorities and, if you wish, to us;
- shares private details: phone numbers, email addresses, passport or booking numbers, home addresses or photos of identifiable people without their consent;
- contains advertising, links, discount codes or contact details for other businesses;
- is copied from somewhere else, repeated, or written by someone else on your behalf;
- is about something outside the business’s control (such as the weather or a flight delay) as if it were the business’s fault, or is about a trip that did not happen;
- breaks the law or another person’s rights, including copyright.
4. How reviews are checked
- You send your review. It is not shown straight away.
- Our team reads it, and checks for the points in section 3. We may look at signs such as links in the text, a very new account, or several reviews arriving together.
- If it follows the guidelines we publish it on the business’s page and it counts towards the rating. If not, we decline it and, where useful, tell you why so you can send a corrected version.
We do not remove a review simply because it is critical, and a business cannot pay to change or remove a review. We may remove a published review later if we learn that it breaks these guidelines. We may shorten a review or remove personal details from it, but we do not change its meaning or rating. Because reviews are about your own experience, we cannot add reviews on your behalf.
5. Replies from businesses
A business may reply once to a review. Replies must be polite and factual, must not name or blame the reviewer personally, must not reveal private details about the traveller or the booking, and must not offer something in return for changing or removing the review. Replies are held to the same rules as reviews.
6. If you disagree with a review or a decision
- Travellers: if your review was declined or removed and you think that was wrong, write to [email protected] with the name of the business. We will look again.
- Businesses: if you believe a review breaks these guidelines, write to [email protected] saying which rule and why. We will check it. Please do not contact the reviewer to ask them to change it.
- Anyone: to report a review, photo or listing that worries you, write to [email protected] with a link.
7. Your content
By posting you agree to the licence in our Terms of Use. See the Privacy Policy for what we do with your information. We may change these guidelines from time to time; the date at the top shows the latest version.