TripAdvisor(R), the world's largest travel community, today announced it has launched a traveler network (http://www.tripadvisor.com/network) that allows its 20 million monthly visitors to quickly tap into their most valued resources, their friends, to help them plan their travel more efficiently. TripAdvisor also announced today that it now features 10 million reviews and opinions, up from 5 million one year ago.

"With 6 million members, you'll be amazed how many people you know are already on TripAdvisor and you'll be even more surprised by all the places they've been and the knowledge they can share," said Christine Petersen, senior vice president of marketing for TripAdvisor. "We think we've created a category killer with our traveler network. By turning our model on its head and focusing on the community behind the content, we've created a social network with a purpose."

Research has shown that consumers rely most on other consumers for travel advice*, especially people they know best.** TripAdvisor's traveler network allows you to quickly uncover a network of travel experts that you already know and that know you, and base your travel decisions on the opinions of those who share your travel tastes. It's designed to save you time by helping you prioritize from among TripAdvisor's more than 10 million reviews and opinions based on relevance to you.

"If you think about it," remarks Stephen Kaufer, CEO of TripAdvisor, "wherever you are thinking of going on vacation ... one of your friends probably has been there, recently. The trick to getting that great tip from a friend, is knowing which friend to ask. TripAdvisor's new social networking features lets real-world friends connect and share those wonderful nuggets of advice, without resorting to spamming everyone you know with a generic 'help me plan my trip to Barcelona' email."

How to get started -- It's easy. You don't have to create it, just tap into it.

            --  Go to http://www.tripadvisor.com/network and login or
                register.
            --  Create your travel map to show others where you have been.
            --  Check your email address books, connect with people you know
                who are members, and invite those who have great travel
                stories to share.
            --  Now, as you browse the site, researching your next travel
                destinations, you will see who in your traveler network has
                already been to the places you're researching and what they
                did while they were there.
            --  You can easily connect with people in your traveler network
                through private messaging, either from your member profile
                or throughout tripadvisor.com(TM).

TripAdvisor's traveler network will be available on TripAdvisor's international domains later this year.

About TripAdvisor Media Network

TripAdvisor(R) Media Network, operated by TripAdvisor, LLC, attracts more than 24 million monthly visitors (source: comScore Media Metrix, Digital Calculator Report, March 2007) across eight popular travel brands, TripAdvisor(R) sites, bookingbuddy.com (TM), cruisecritic.com(TM), independenttraveler.com(TM), seatguru.com(R), smartertravel.com(TM), travel- library.com(TM) and travelpod.com(TM). TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 20 million monthly visitors, six million registered members and 10 million reviews and opinions. Featuring real advice from real travelers, TripAdvisor-branded sites cover 260,000+ hotels and attractions and operate in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/), the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/), France (http://www.tripadvisor.fr/) and Germany (http://www.tripadvisor.de/). TripAdvisor(R) Media Network provides travel suppliers with graphical advertising opportunities and a cost-per-click marketing platform. Collectively, the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network have won hundreds of awards and accolades from press and industry, worldwide. TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. .

TripAdvisor, TripAdvisor.com, bookingbuddy.com, cruisecritic.com, independenttraveler.com, seatguru.com, smartertravel.com, travel-library.com and travelpod.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.

*Forrester Research, Oct. 2006

**TripAdvisor Travel Trends survey, Oct. 2005

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SOURCE: TripAdvisor