TripAdvisor, the leading travel research site, today announced the appointment of Christine E. Petersen as the company's new Vice President of Marketing.

"The addition of Christine Petersen to our executive management team brings TripAdvisor the marketing leadership needed to drive our aggressive growth plan," said Steve Kaufer, TripAdvisor's CEO. "She combines a wealth of experience and knowledge in the online travel market as well as marketing and product development expertise to elevate TripAdvisor's presence as the premier online travel research site. We look forward to her high-energy level and progressive insights in expanding TripAdvisor's market presence and in enhancing our product offerings."

In her new role as Vice President of Marketing, Ms. Petersen will lead TripAdvisor's worldwide marketing initiatives and play a substantial role in the company's growth.

Petersen has over 15 years of marketing and product development experience. She joins TripAdvisor from Travelocity (formerly Preview Travel, Inc.), where she was Vice President of Member Services, and Customer Marketing since 1999. Petersen was responsible for the development, implementation and management of marketing strategies for the company, including "Travelocity Preferred," a premium membership program, management of customer marketing programs and the development of additional services that enhanced overall Travelocity membership. Prior to joining Travelocity, Petersen held various senior level marketing positions at Charles Schwab & Co, American Express, and Fidelity Corporation. She holds an MBA from the Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from Colby College.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor, Inc. provides a comprehensive travel search engine that helps consumers research their travel plans via the web, and gives them direct access to major online travel suppliers, including Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, hotels.com, and American Airlines, for booking upcoming trips. TripAdvisor.com is the 8th most popular travel website worldwide, according to comScore Media Metrix (September, 2004), and has won dozens of awards, including PC Magazine's Top 100 Web Sites and Forbes Best of the Web. The company also offers travel suppliers a performance-based marketing medium that generates average click-through rates of over 10% per page. TripAdvisor is part of IAC Local and Media Services, an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp . For more information, visit http://www.tripadvisor.com/.

SOURCE: TripAdvisor, Inc.