TripAdvisor celebrates 15

BANGKOK TripAdvisor celebrated its 15-year anniversary, Thursday, claiming it has reached over 200 million reviews and impacts positively on the travel industry’s ability to sell.
TripAdvisor has rapidly grown from its early days above a Needham, Massachusetts pizzeria to become the world’s largest travel site.
The company now spans more than 45 countries and had more than 2.5 billion visits during 2014. TripAdvisor also recently crossed the 200 million reviews and opinions milestone.
“It’s been an incredible journey so far, and I am just as excited about what our future holds,” said Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO of TripAdvisor. “TripAdvisor has evolved from being the site for hotel reviews to becoming the ‘destination site’ where you go to research and book nearly every aspect of your trip.”
inside no 6The first-ever TripAdvisor traveller review was of Captain’s House Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts, which earned a rating of 4 bubbles. Since then, the number of traveller reviews and opinions on TripAdvisor has accelerated dramatically by 2,000% in the last 10 years, and up 60% since last year.
Today it allows visitors to compare prices, find great deals and book not only hotels, but also restaurants and attractions.
In 2013 TripAdvisor rolled out its hotel price comparison search and became the first to match real-time pricing and availability with more than 100 million reviews and opinions of TripAdvisor travellers.
Consumers are able to check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices and click through to the booking partners’ sites to complete the transaction.
Then, in May 2014, TripAdvisor launched its instant booking platform that allows users to not only compare prices, but also book hotels through the company’s hotel and online travel agency partners without leaving the TripAdvisor site. Instant booking is currently available to US travellers with a gradual rollout in the works to global markets.
And, most recently, TripAdvisor acquired a number of restaurant and attraction booking sites, including lafourchette and Viator, to broaden the booking options for consumers on the site.
The site claims to aid the travel industry sell and promote its products to arguably the largest travel audience worldwide.

sourced:ttrweekly.com