NEWTON, Mass., Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced that more than 50,000 accommodations have upgraded to TripAdvisor Business Listings to take advantage of TripAdvisor's suite of advanced marketing services and generate more business online.

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Since the product first became available in 2010, a growing number of hotel companies and brands around the world, including Best Western, InterContinental Hotels Group and Wyndham Hotel Group — as well as thousands of independent hoteliers — have added a Business Listing to their TripAdvisor page to drive more bookings and gain more visibility through the product's powerful Special Offers and Mobile Upgrade features.

Globally, there has been a more than 40 percent year-on-year increase in the hotel industry's adoption of Business Listings, and according to a recent Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™(TEI) study entitled The Total Economic Impact of TripAdvisor's Business Listings¹, some partners have converted up to $64 in incremental bookings through the product for every dollar spent.

Attract Guests with TripAdvisor Business Listings

TripAdvisor Business Listings offers an array of features and services to help accommodations attract more guests and monitor their business's performance on TripAdvisor:

• Direct Connect — Enables individual hotels to increase their property's exposure in front of TripAdvisor's more than 60 million unique monthly visitors* by adding their direct contact information — such as a website link, email address and phone number — to their property page on the site.
• Special Offers — Allows accommodations to capture the attention of researching travelers through customizable Special Offers on high-visibility pages on the site. According to a soon-to-be published TripAdvisor study², customers rate the most desirable type of Special Offers to be discounts on rooms (87 percent of respondents) and a free night's stay with booking (49 percent).
• Mobile Upgrade — Increases a property's visibility and appeal to travelers on the go by displaying Special Offers in front of 45 million monthly visitors on TripAdvisor's mobile website and popular mobile app.

"TripAdvisor Business Listings have helped our members gain more exposure amongst TripAdvisor's extensive community of travelers, which has driven steady bookings for us to bestwestern.com, our preferred booking channel. We've seen a significant return on our investment," said Best Western International Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales, Dorothy Dowling.  "The Special Offers feature has been very beneficial. It showcases our brand's promotions to travelers who are researching a trip online and directs them to the Best Western hotel that is right for them." 

The 50,000 Business Listings subscriber milestone follows closely on the heels of another important TripAdvisor milestone: in Dec. 2012, TripAdvisor announced that more than 300 million people view TripAdvisor content on partner sites through content syndication and review collection partnerships. Through these partnerships, major travel brands place TripAdvisor traveler reviews and opinions on their own sites and use TripAdvisor Review Collection Services to collect more candid guest feedback.

"TripAdvisor's recent Business Listings and Partnerships milestones are evidence that a growing number of hoteliers and other travel brands around the world are embracing TripAdvisor, its content and services," said Christine Petersen, President of TripAdvisor for Business. "A strong online presence is vital for accommodation businesses today. We're seeing more and more brands adopt TripAdvisor Business Listings because it's a nimble solution that helps accommodations upgrade their online and mobile presence, and we are continually innovating to help them maintain a competitive edge."

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 with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 60 million unique monthly visitors*, and over 75 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 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 19 other travel media brands, and together the sites attract more than 74 million unique monthly visitors.** TripAdvisor, Inc.'s travel media brands include 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.tingo.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, July 2012

**Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Worldwide, July 2012

¹ Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™(TEI) study, "The Total Economic Impact of TripAdvisor's Business Listings," commissioned report, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, July 2012

² TripBarometer by TripAdvisor, Global insights from tourists and accommodation providers, conducted online from Dec. 7 2012 to Jan. 7 2013. The total sample for the total business sample is 19,447.

©2013 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved. 

SOURCE TripAdvisor