TripAdvisor, LLC, the world's largest travel community and an operating company of Expedia, Inc. , today announced it has acquired The Independent Traveler, Inc., publisher of Cruise Critic, the leading cruise community (www.cruisecritic.com) and IndependentTraveler.com.

"Kathleen Tucker and her team have done a phenomenal job building the most popular cruise community in the world," said Stephen Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. "This acquisition is a great addition to our portfolio of leading travel communities and content sites and gives us a strong foothold in the $32 billion cruise market.* Kathleen will continue to lead the team and we expect continued growth and excellence from The Independent Traveler sites."

"TripAdvisor's model of acquiring best-of-breed travel media companies and allowing them to continue to operate independently is ideal for us," said Kathleen Tucker, founder and president of The Independent Traveler, Inc. "By joining the TripAdvisor family, we will have more resources to continue to build our business, expand internationally and strengthen our lead in the cruise space."

The Independent Traveler, based in Pennington, New Jersey, generates the majority of its revenue through online advertising and content licensing. Terms of the acquisition are undisclosed but the company operates profitably. There are no near-term plans for extensive integration of the business or the Web domains and no staffing changes are expected.

  The Independent Traveler, Inc.:

    Cruise Critic -- With approximately five million visitors per year,
    Cruise Critic is a critically acclaimed interactive community comprised
    of avid and first-time cruisers who enjoy the fun of planning,
    researching and sharing their passion for cruising.  No other single
    resource covers the world of cruising as thoroughly as Cruise Critic.
    Cruise Critic's world-renowned editorial staff offers objective cruise
    reviews, features, ports of call profiles and destination stories.  The
    Cruise Critic message boards are the most active in the world.  Since
    its launch in 1995, Cruise Critic has been recognized as the most
    influential cruise site on the Web, and an innovator of consumer-
    oriented cruise travel news.

    IndependentTraveler.com -- The Independent Traveler debuted on America
    Online in 1990 and quickly established its credentials as an
    authoritative Internet resource for objective travel information. Over
    the past 16 years, The Independent Traveler has developed a loyal
    following and a devoted online community as it has expanded to include
    extensive worldwide travel bargains, travel advice, recommendations, and
    trip reports written by travelers.

TripAdvisor also recently announced the acquisition of smartertravel.com, bookingbuddy.com; SeatGuru.com; TravelPod.com; and Travel-Library.com.

About TripAdvisor LLC

TripAdvisor, LLC, the largest travel community in the world, attracts more than 24 million monthly visitors (source: comScore Media Metrix, Digital Calculator Report, March 2007) across seven popular travel brands, tripadvisor.com(TM), bookingbuddy(TM).com, cruisecritic(TM).com, seatguru(R).com, smartertravel(TM).com, travelpod(TM).com and travel- library(TM).com(TM). Tripadvisor.com features real advice from real travelers, with more than 5 million unbiased reviews and opinions, covering 250,000+ hotels and attractions and operates sites in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) and in the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/). The TripAdvisor(R) media network provides travel suppliers with graphical advertising opportunities and a cost-per-click marketing platform. Collectively, TripAdvisor(R) sites have won hundreds of awards and accolades from press and industry, worldwide. TripAdvisor, LLC is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. .

TripAdvisor and TripAdvisor.com are either trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

* Source: Cruise Line Industry Association, U.S. market only, 2005 data

SOURCE: TripAdvisor, LLC