NEEDHAM, Mass., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor today announced that it has crossed the 500 million reviews and opinions milestone. The popular travel planning and booking site and app now posts 290 pieces of content every minute of every day. The phenomenal growth in user-generated content has been fueled by travelers' desire to "pay it forward" with insights and advice for millions of other global users.

Most Reviewed Hotel, Restaurant and Attraction on TripAdvisor

• Most reviewed tourist attraction in the world: The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, has more than 104,000 traveler reviews
• Most reviewed hotel in the world: The Luxor Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, has more than 28,000 traveler reviews
• Most reviewed restaurant in the world: Pasteis de Belem in Lisbon, Portugal, has more than 25,000 traveler reviews
• Most reviewed tourist attraction in the U.S.: Central Park, New York City, has more than 92,000 traveler reviews
• Most reviewed restaurant in the U.S.: Café Du Monde, New Orleans, has more than 22,000 traveler reviews

"Since launching 17 years ago, TripAdvisor has revolutionized the travel industry by creating an environment where consumers can share honest opinions of their experiences and where businesses can see the rewards of achieving consistently high standards of service and value from the community," said Stephen Kaufer, chief executive officer and co-founder, TripAdvisor. "Many savvy businesses report seeing incremental increases in the ratings and rankings on TripAdvisor when they engage with travelers by responding to reviews and using the feedback to improve their customers' experience."

In 2014, Oxford Economics¹ quantified the economic impact and added value generated for the travel industry by consumers using TripAdvisor. The study showed that TripAdvisor reviews and other content are not only heavily influencing much of the world's travel activity, but are in fact the cause of some increase in travel activity.

Oxford Economics found that reviews, in particular, play a very important part in increasing travel activity by:

• Creating Transparency: Consumers are clear about the positives and negatives of the hotels, restaurants or attractions they're considering
• Building Trust: Consumers are confident that TripAdvisor's content is reliable and trustworthy
• Growing Content Depth & Breadth: Travelers see an enormous amount of aggregated information and reviews about accommodations, restaurants and attractions all over the world
• Easing the Process of Searching & Booking: Travelers can easily find and compare prices and make a booking

The more content contributed by TripAdvisor users, the better it becomes at helping other users fulfill their dreams of finding their ideal hotel, attraction or restaurant. In equal measure, the more data reviewers contribute to the site, the better it becomes at answering searches with the most relevant list of businesses. What starts with a review, results in a cycle that generally leads to one of the most important marketing opportunities for a business that can result in more bookings and increased revenue.

Content Integrity Remains High 
The integrity of reviews and opinions remains high at TripAdvisor, where the company uses cutting-edge technology and investigation methods to ensure consumers continue to find reviews as accurate and helpful in determining the quality of their total trip experience.

Over the last several years, multiple studies continue to reflect that the overwhelming majority of travelers find TripAdvisor's hotel and restaurant reviews accurate of the actual experience.

For an in-depth look at TripAdvisor's methods, watch this recently released film that illustrates how the company succeeds at ensuring the quality of our content:  
https://www.tripadvisor.com/TripAdvisorInsights/n2769/journey-tripadvisor-review

How a Business Benefits from TripAdvisor's Network Effects 
Reviews and photos benefit consumers because they provide them with transparency, insight and a voice. Businesses that choose to engage with this review content by analyzing feedback, making the necessary improvements, focusing on the positives and learning from the negatives, are usually rewarded with greater customer satisfaction, better reviews, more visibility and, ultimately, more bookings or reservations. This is what TripAdvisor calls its Network Effect of having a listing online within its community.

A property listing on TripAdvisor is the first page, or a virtual store front, a potential customer sees when considering or researching a business. Having clear contact details surrounded by the best possible photos and embedded into well-managed reviews can go a long way in delivering more bookings.

TripAdvisor offers an array of free tools and subscription-based products to help properties take full advantage of the potential the site offers. Business Advantage and TripAdvisor Premium for Restaurants are two new subscription solutions for accommodations and restaurants to help them attract and engage with potential customers on the world's largest travel site. These products also give owners access to in-depth analytics and enhanced reputation management features.

To find out more, visit:

• Business Advantage for Hotels: Link
• TripAdvisor Premium for Restaurants: Link

About TripAdvisor 
TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travelers to unleash the potential of every trip. TripAdvisor offers advice from millions of travelers, with 500 million reviews and opinions covering 7 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions, and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features — checking more than 200 websites to help travelers find and book today's lowest hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 390 million average unique monthly visitors** in 49 markets worldwide. TripAdvisor: Know better. Book better. Go better.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP), through its subsidiaries, manages and operates websites under 23 other travel media brands:

www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.citymaps.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com, www.iens.nl and www.dimmi.com.au), www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.housetrip.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 and www.viator.com.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, November 2016 
**Source: TripAdvisor log files, Q3 2016

Notes to editors: 
1 - Methodology: Study commissioned by TripAdvisor and undertaken by Oxford Economics, quantifying the economic impacts of TripAdvisor globally. A panel dataset covering more than 100 countries for the years 2009 - 2014 was compiled to test the relationship between TripAdvisor metrics and travel behavior. Extensive econometric testing proved that TripAdvisor content is a causal factor in travel activity, in addition to being positively correlated. Research conducted in 2015.

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SOURCE TripAdvisor