NEWTON, Mass., February 25, 2015 – TripAdvisor^® today announced that it is celebrating its 15-year anniversary helping travelers plan and book a perfect trip. TripAdvisor has rapidly grown from its early days above a Needham, Mass. pizzeria to become the world’s largest travel site*. The company now spans more than 45 countries and had more than 2.5 billion unique visitors 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.”

TripAdvisor Traveler Feedback Soars

The first-ever TripAdvisor traveler review was of Captain’s House Inn in Chatham, Mass., which earned a rating of 4 bubbles. Since then, the number of traveler reviews and opinions on TripAdvisor has accelerated dramatically around the world, up 2,000 percent in the last 10 years, and up 60 percent since last year.

The Evolution to Booking on TripAdvisor

In its continued effort to help travelers have a perfect trip, in recent years TripAdvisor has evolved its mission to allow users to easily compare prices, find great deals and book not only hotels, but also restaurants and attractions. First, 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 travelers. 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 book hotels through the company’s hotel and online travel agency partners without leaving the TripAdvisor site. Instant booking is currently available to U.S. travelers 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.

Leveling the Playing Field for Businesses

Not only has TripAdvisor helped travelers plan and book better vacations, but it has also had a positive impact on the travel industry. Over the years, the site has elevated businesses that offer exceptional service and are highly regarded in reviews by their guests. With more than 315 million unique monthly visitors, the site serves as an incredible marketing tool for many properties, especially smaller and independent establishments with little or no marketing budget.

Over the years the company launched a dedicated TripAdvisor for Business division and several innovative features to support the industry.  These include tools such as a Management Center, offering free resources and content to help hospitality businesses engage with the TripAdvisor community and respond to traveler reviews, and Review Express, an automated platform for hoteliers to encourage their guests to share candid feedback on TripAdvisor.

5 Little-Known TripAdvisor Facts

1. TripAdvisor is the world’s most popular travel app
2. TripAdvisor now offers personalized hotel results through its “Just for You” feature
3. MariaAA is the longest serving member of the TripAdvisor community – having joined the site in 2002
4. There are more restaurants (2.4 million) listed on TripAdvisor than hotels (915,000)
5. The majority of TripAdvisor’s site traffic now comes from outside the U.S.

For more fun and interesting TripAdvisor facts, visit the TripAdvisor blog at http://blog.tripadvisor.com/blog/2015/02/25/tripadvisors-15th-birthday-big-thanks-community/

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About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor^® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 315 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 45 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 24 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com,www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com(including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com and www.iens.nl), www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk,www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com,www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com,www.viator.com, www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn. 

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, December 2014

 **Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users, Q3 2014; does not include traffic to daodao.com