Do you know what people are saying about you?
Before you spend big on a listening tool, start with the free ones. They will tell you more than you expect.
Guests talk about you online whether you are listening or not. If you do not know what they are saying, you cannot fix what is wrong or do more of what is working.
tldr; everything you need to know
More importantly, however, you must know when people say negative things about you online.
An unanswered bad review keeps doing damage every time someone reads it. People check what others say before they book.
When was the last time you picked a holiday destination or booked accommodation without seeing what others had to say? Exactly.
So, can you listen to what is being said about your online tourism brand without blowing your budget on listening tools?
Here are five free ways for tourism brands to listen in.
1. Manage your push notifications
No app needed. Set your notifications up properly and you will see comments, mentions and messages as they land.
You may not want push notifications enabled for your personal account, but push notifications are crucial for business accounts.
What are push notifications? Simply put, a push notification is a message that pops up on a mobile device. If you’re active on social media, you’ve almost certainly been asked to allow push notifications at some stage.
Push notifications look and act like text messages, meaning you don’t need to open an app to receive them; they simply pop up, overlaid on your device’s screen.
If you haven’t already, go into your app’s settings and enable push notifications. If you are on the road or on the floor most days, this is your early warning system. All social media apps have push notifications, but you’re most likely to get the most significant benefit from Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Bonus: don’t ignore native analytics tools
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn all have built-in analytics. They will not tell you what is said about you elsewhere, but they do show who engages with you, what they respond to and when. For example, Meta Business Suite is a feature-rich platform that offers more data than we can list. Before you hand over your hard-earned marketing budget, look and see what these tools can tell you about your brand.
2. Google Alerts
If you haven’t set up Google Alerts for your brand or business yet, you absolutely should. It is free, and it emails you when your name turns up somewhere new. All you have to do is choose a search term (i.e. your brand name), and Google Alerts will email you whenever it finds new results from web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, scientific research, and more.
3. Reddit and Tripadvisor forums
Forums are where travellers say what they really think. Reddit and the Tripadvisor travel forums are free to search: try your business name, your town and the experience you sell. These areas can be difficult to navigate, but commenters often express more candid opinions than social media posters. Go in with thick skin: the language can be blunt.
4. Google Trends
Google Trends shows what people are searching for, where and when. Dig deeper and you can spot when searches for your region or your experience start to climb each year, and plan content around it. Since January 2026, Google has been rolling out a Gemini side panel on the Explore page that finds and compares related trends for you.
5. Fedica
In addition to monitoring hashtags and keywords, Fedica ensures you stay informed with prompt email notifications for brand mentions and keyword alerts. It also presents opportunities for lead generation and gauging reach. Geo-targeted trending topics provide valuable insights for tailoring your content to specific locations. You can also analyse your competitors’ followers. Fedica has a free plan to start on; check which of these features it covers before you rely on it.
Paid social media listening tools
Before spending significant money on third-party social media listening tools, we recommend trying all of the free options first. This will help you get familiar with social listening, save money, and help you work out if your brand or business needs to pay for a social media listening tool.
However, if you are keen to try a few paid listening tools, here are some of the best on the market:
These are feature-rich tools, and the features come at a premium. Note that Mention is now part of Agorapulse, so two names on this list sit under one roof. If you are considering handing over your hard-earned cash for a social media listening tool, research and find the right tool for your brand and what you’re trying to achieve.
Final thoughts
Listening is the cheapest research you will ever do. Start today. That said, there’s definitely no one-size-fits-all approach to it. Whether you’re interested in a free tool or a paid option, it’s essential to research and decide which platform offers the features that suit your needs.
If you decide to go down the paid route, most platforms offer trials that let you test the fit before committing.