TripAdvisor.com is a free travel guide and research website that hosts reviews from users and other information designed to help plan a vacation. TripAdvisor is an example of consumer generated media.

On July 4 2008, TripAdvisor bought Virtualtourist, a travel website with over 1 million registered members.^[1]

Description

TripAdvisor.com is a travel information website, covering more than 212,000 hotels^[2] and 74,000 attractions^[3] in over 30,000 destinations worldwide. With more than 15 million reviews and opinions^[4] and nearly 30 million unique visitors a month, TripAdvisor is also the largest travel community on the web.^[5]

The site has been criticised for allowing users to publish fraudulent reviews. In response, they claim that all reviews are moderated by their staff, and they have algorithms to detect abuse.^[6]

History

TripAdvisor was founded in February 2000, and was purchased by InterActive Corporation in 2004. Original financing was obtained from Flagship Ventures, the Bollard Group, and private investors. IAC spun off its travel group of businesses under the Expedia, Inc. name in August 2005.^[7]

TripAdvisor operates nine travel brands in addition to their name-sake brand at tripadvisor.com, they are: Virtualtourist.com,OneTime.com,bookingbuddy.com, cruisecritic.com, independenttraveler.com, seatguru.com, smartertravel.com, travel-library.com and travelpod.com.^[5] TripAdvisor is free to users, and makes its money from advertising, mostly from travel-related industries. ^[8]

Major products

• Hotel/Attraction/Restaurant reviews: TripAdvisor consists of reviews and opinions of hotels, attractions, and restaurants. The hotel, restaurant, and attraction rankings found throughout the site are based largely on these reviews.

• Travel wiki: A wiki (based on a clusterized version of XWiki) in which users can add information on destinations as a way to aid potential visitors. Topics include transportation, activities and dining guides.

• goLists: Lists of places and activities compiled by users and usually on travel "themes", e.g.,, ten must-see attractions, stops on a walking tour, or ideas for a rainy day.

• TripAdvisor maps: A hotel map mashup combining TripAdvisor's hotel popularity index with Google Maps.

• TripAdvisor Forums: Message boards where travelers ask and answer destination and interest based travel-related questions. There are forums for individual destinations, air travel, cruising, and family travel.

• Other resources: Links to additional travel information and reviews available on other websites (e.g., newspaper, magazine, and travel guidebook websites).

Impact on the hotel industry

A 2007 survey of the hotel and restaurant industry in Europe^[9] concluded that 80% of UK consumers are now researching online before booking a hotel and that half of them said they have refrained from booking a hotel as a direct result of a negative review on websites such as TripAdvisor.

In Popular Culture

Australian comedy Kath and Kim referenced the user reviews from TripAdvisor of a hotel they were visiting in the first episode of the fourth season.

In the NBC series, The Office, Dwight describes TripAdvisor as the "life blood of the agro-tourism industry."

References

1. ↑
2. ↑ TripAdvisor Fact Sheet, 2008-02-11
3. ↑ TripAdvisor Fact Sheet, 2008-02-11
4. ↑ TripAdvisor home page, 2008-02-11
5. ↑ ^{a b} About TripAdvisor LLC, 2008-02-11
6. ↑ 'We're clean' pledges Tripadvisor, The Times, 2007-05-23
7. ↑ IAC Completes Spin-Off of Expedia, Inc., ExpediaInc.com, press release
8. ↑ TripAdvisor Fact Sheet, 2008-02-11
9. ↑ Loudhouse Research, The American Express Hospitality Monitor, 2007

External links

• TripAdvisor, (USA)
• TripAdvisor.co.uk, (UK)
• TripAdvisor.ie, (Ireland)

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