For a long time, reputation was treated as a communication issue.
The company built a narrative, publicized its values, chose its best images and tried to control the way it wanted to be perceived by the market.
That time is over.
Today, a brand’s reputation is also built outside of official channels. It appears in a review on Google, in a note on Tripadvisor, in a public complaint, in a comment on Instagram, in a candid photo, in a video made by the customer or in a message shared in private groups.
The experience was no longer silent.
It became public data.
In the hotel industry, this movement is even more evident. The guest doesn’t just evaluate the room, the bed or the breakfast. It evaluates the coherence of the experience. Observe the service. Understands the brand’s relationship with the territory. Notice whether nature is treated as a living asset or just as scenery. It checks whether there is a real link with the local culture or just an aesthetic produced to appear authentic.
This consumer perspective has a new strength.
The guest is no longer just a customer. He became a kind of public auditor of reputation.
And this is where the topic stops being just marketing and enters the ESG agenda.
Because ESG is not just based on reports, seals or institutional speeches. He reveals himself in the operation. In the way the company treats people. In the relationship with suppliers. In respect for the territory. In transparency in the face of criticism. In the ability to listen, correct and maintain consistency between promise and delivery.
In tourism, this coherence is decisive.
An inn, a hotel or a tourist development does not just occupy one address. It occupies a landscape, a community, a culture and a history. In nature destinations, this responsibility is even greater.
Jericoacoara, in Ceará, is a clear example of this challenge.
Destiny carries enormous symbolic force. Wind, beach, dunes, simplicity, tourist desire and increasing pressure on the territory coexist in the same space. Any brand installed there participates, in some way, in the public image of the place.
In this scenario, a recent recognition helps to illustrate the theme. Vila Kalango, an independent guesthouse located in Jericoacoara, was recognized in Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best 2026 award, in the Small & Boutique Hotels category. She is the only representative from Ceará on the national list.
More important than position in any ranking is the nature of this type of recognition.
It arises from the perception of the travelers themselves.
These are guests who lived the experience, evaluated their stay and made their reading about the brand public. It is a collective seal, built in practice, based on daily dedication.
This type of recognition points to a bigger change in the market.
Digital reputation began to function as an informal but powerful layer of transparency. It shows what institutional communication often cannot prove on its own: whether the promised experience is actually confirmed.
For companies operating in sensitive territories, this is even more relevant.
It is not enough to say that there is a commitment to sustainability. The public notices when a brand just uses territory as a selling point. And you also notice when there is a more careful relationship with the place, the people and the local culture.
This perception today has consequences.
It influences choice, desire, trust, return, recommendation and competitiveness. But it also influences something deeper: a brand’s social license to continue occupying a certain space with legitimacy.
In practice, the client began to ask questions that were previously restricted to specialists, auditors or reports.
Does the company deliver what it promises?
Does the experience respect the place where it is located?
Is the relationship with the community real or just decorative?
Does sustainability appear in the operation or just in the speech?
Does the brand know how to listen when it is criticized?
These questions are scattered throughout public assessments.
Sometimes they appear objectively. Other times, in detail: a comment about service, an observation about excessive tourist exploitation, a photo that reveals care, a criticism about lack of transparency or praise for integration with local culture.
For those who work with ESG, this matters.
Because reputation is not just image. Reputation is a consequence of perceived behavior.
And, in a world in which any experience can be published, compared and shared, the distance between discourse and practice has become smaller. Or, at least, it became more visible.
The hotel industry is perhaps one of the sectors most exposed to this new logic. But she is not alone.
The same goes for restaurants, clinics, schools, courses, fashion brands, offices, financial services, technology companies and independent professionals. Every business based on trust is being observed in real time.
The difference is that, in tourism, the experience also involves the territory.
Therefore, when an independent guesthouse in Jericoacoara gains national recognition based on guest reviews, the topic should not be read simply as good news for the enterprise. It can be read as a sign of a greater transformation.
The consumer is more active.
Reputation is more public.
Sustainability is more exposed.
And coherence has become a competitive advantage that is difficult to copy.
In the end, perhaps this will be the big change.
Brands can still tell their stories.
But now it’s people who help decide whether this story is trustworthy.
