TripAdvisor(R), the world's most popular and largest travel community, today announced the launch of its innovative Business Travel Center, a full service business trip planning resource covering more than 20,000 hotels in more than 750 cities worldwide. This dedicated home on TripAdvisor.com is a one stop shop for business trip planning that features a Business Popularity Index that ranks hotels specifically for business travelers, and interactive maps that identify meeting locations and then finds nearby restaurants, attractions, transportation and business services.

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The U.S. corporate travel market was estimated to be a $101 billion market in 2008 according to PhoCusWright and 52 percent of respondents to a 2008 TripAdvisor survey said they travel for business at least 1-2 times a year. TripAdvisor is addressing this market demand with the Business Travel Center.

The New Business Popularity Index

For the first time on any travel site, business travelers can now specifically sort reviews written by business travelers about their business trip stays at hotels, and see rankings that display hotels that best cater to business travelers. Using similar technology as TripAdvisor's Hotel Popularity Index, the Business Popularity Index ranks hotels worldwide based on the popularity of a given hotel for business travel, as measured by both the quantity and quality of content written about the hotel on TripAdvisor and across the Web. Now, instead of having to read through dozens of reviews to find content written by and for business travelers like them, this new index zeroes in on the reviews business travelers really care about.

Dynamic Interactive Maps

The TripAdvisor Business Travel Center's robust and interactive maps first allow travelers to "map an address" and add their meeting destination. The map tool then automatically shows all nearby hotels, and travelers can then quickly reveal nearby restaurants and attractions in the area. A huge additional benefit for business travelers, the map also shows nearby business services, including coffee shops, copy and shipping services, convention centers as well as transportation options, such as rail stations and airports.

New Filtering Functionality Surfaces Reviews for Specific Traveler Types

Now travelers can go to a hotel page, pick their trip type and see reviews written by people who have taken the same type of trip they are planning. Additionally, there is a new ratings filter on TripAdvisor that allows travelers to sort and only read reviews with a particular quality rating, from excellent to poor.

"We're very excited to bring the full weight and wisdom of the TripAdvisor community to travelers planning their business trips," said Robin Ingle, senior vice president of sales at TripAdvisor. "Now people who know and trust us for their leisure travel have a powerful and unique tool at their disposal, making their time away from home as valuable and productive as possible."

Additional Business Center Features

New Business Travel Filters: As with typical TripAdvisor destination pages, you can sort hotels by hotel brand, price, hotel star class, neighborhood and amenity type. You can also check availability for your dates of travel.

New Three-Day Weather Forecast: Highlights the business destination's three-day forecast helping business travelers to pack and plan accordingly.

Business Traveler Info About the City: Wiki pages allow business travelers to help other business travelers get specific information about relevant destination topics such as transportation, night life and local events.

Business Travel Forum: Business travelers can also share detailed travel information, tips and up-to-the-minute news on specific business travel destinations or hotels in TripAdvisor's business travel forum.

"We're excited to be partnering with the world's largest travel community in launching this innovative Business Travel Center," said Brian Povinelli, vice president of brand management for Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. "We think this dynamic resource will dovetail nicely with Sheraton's long-standing commitment to the business traveler."

About TripAdvisor Media Network

TripAdvisor(R) Media Network, operated by TripAdvisor, LLC, attracts more than 33 million monthly visitors* across 14 popular travel brands: TripAdvisor(R), www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.frequentflier.com, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com and www.virtualtourist.com. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 25 million monthly visitors*, 10 million+ registered members and more than 23 million reviews and opinions. Featuring real advice from real travelers, TripAdvisor-branded sites cover more than one million destinations, hotels, restaurants and attractions and operate in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/), the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/), Ireland (http://www.tripadvisor.ie/), France (http://www.tripadvisor.fr/), Germany (http://www.tripadvisor.de/), Italy (http://www.tripadvisor.it/), Spain (http://www.tripadvisor.es/), India (http://www.tripadvisor.in/), Japan (http://www.tripadvisor.jp/), Portugal and Brazil (http://www.tripadvisor.com.br/), Sweden (http://www.tripadvisor.se/), and The Netherlands (http://nl.tripadvisor.com/). TripAdvisor also operates in China under the brand daodao.com (www.daodao.com). 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 and the TripAdvisor logo are 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 property of their respective owners

(C)2009 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix, March 2009

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SOURCE: TripAdvisor