TripAdvisor Appoints Chief Marketing Officer, Barbara Messing, to Lead Global Marketing Efforts

NEWTON, Mass., Feb. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced that Barbara Messing has joined its management team as chief marketing officer, to lead the company's global marketing efforts. Messing will lead all of TripAdvisor's consumer marketing activities, including brand development and experience, customer relationship marketing, public relations, search engine marketing, traffic acquisition, and mobile partnerships.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080902/TRIPADVISORLOGO )

"Barbara has a wealth of experience developing and leading consumer brands and we're thrilled to have her on board," said Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. "She will play a key role at TripAdvisor as we continue to expand our global footprint as the world's largest travel site."

Messing comes to TripAdvisor from Hotwire, also part of the Expedia, Inc. family, where she served in several key leadership roles. Most recently, Messing was vice president and general manager of Travel Ticker and in nine years at Hotwire, also served in roles including vice president of customer experience and director of product development. Prior to joining Hotwire in 2002, Messing was a product director at Keen.com and a segment producer at The Travel Channel. She holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and a J.D. from Stanford University.

"I'm excited to join this talented team and confident that my professional experience will further enhance TripAdvisor's brand awareness," said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer at TripAdvisor. "I look forward to continuing to push the envelope in 2011, as we look to deliver exciting new offerings for our global community of more than 40 million monthly travelers."

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor® Media Group, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 50 million unique monthly visitors* across 18 popular travel brands**. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 40 million unique monthly visitors***, 20 million members, and over 40 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 27 countries worldwide****, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives. 

TripAdvisor Media Group websites have been recognized as top travel resources in 2010 by Conde Nast Traveller, Good Housekeeping, TIME magazine and Travel + Leisure.

TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Group are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).

TripAdvisor and the TripAdvisor logo are 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 property of their respective owners.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Media Group Sites, Worldwide, August 2010

**In addition to TripAdvisor, The TripAdvisor Media Group of websites includes: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com and www.kuxun.cn.

***Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, August 2010

****TripAdvisor sites operate in 27 countries worldwide: www.tripadvisor.com, www.tripadvisor.co.uk, www.tripadvisor.ca, www.tripadvisor.it, www.tripadvisor.es, www.tripadvisor.de, www.tripadvisor.fr, www.tripadvisor.jp, www.daodao.com, www.tripadvisor.in, www.tripadvisor.se, nl.tripadvisor.com, www.tripadvisor.com.br, www.tripadvisor.com.tr, www.tripadvisor.dk, www.tripadvisor.com.mx, www.tripadvisor.ie, www.tripadvisor.com.au, www.tripadvisor.com.sg, www.tripadvisor.co.kr, no.tripadvisor.com, pl.tripadvisor.com, th.tripadvisor.com, www.tripadvisor.ru, www.tripadvisor.com.gr/, www.tripadvisor.co.id and www.tripadvisor.com.ar.

SOURCE TripAdvisor