NEWTON, Mass., April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced it has hired Wendy Perrin, critically acclaimed travel expert, as TripAdvisor Travel Advocate. Wendy is TripAdvisor's first-ever Travel Advocate, a position created for her as she has been an advocate for travel for years, to advise, and curate the best insights from, TripAdvisor's 260 million monthly visitors—the largest travel community in the world.

"Wendy Perrin is a travel industry icon and we are thrilled to add her to the TripAdvisor team," said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor. "Wendy's travel insights and expertise will add another layer of compelling content for our travelers. With over 150 million reviews and opinions from our community around the world, travelers are sure to find everything they need to plan their perfect trip."

In the newly appointed role, Perrin will be responsible for writing travel content to be featured among TripAdvisor's assets including its blog, member updates, forums and social media channels. Perrin will also serve as a TripAdvisor spokesperson.

"I am excited to join TripAdvisor because travelers are looking for the truth and TripAdvisor strives to get to the truth, via the collective intelligence of its unbeatable global community," said Wendy Perrin. "I look forward to combining my expertise with theirs and giving millions of travelers the honest answers they are looking for."

In addition to serving as TripAdvisor Travel Advocate, Perrin has launched her own travel site, wendyperrin.com, to provide even more solutions for getting the most rewarding travel experiences.

In her previous role, Perrin served as the Director of Consumer News and Digital Community at Conde Nast Traveler, where she wrote her column The Perrin Report for 17 years and The Perrin Post blog for eight years. Perrin has been honored as Travel Journalist of the Year, won a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism award, and wrote a Conde Nast Traveler feature article that was a finalist for a National Magazine Award—the magazine industry's most prestigious editorial honor. She is also the author of Wendy Perrin's Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know (Fodor's).

Perrin has been a keynote speaker at conferences worldwide, including at Harvard University, and at the United Nations. Perrin's television appearances include The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and numerous programs on CNN. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University, where she majored in History and Literature. Perrin is based in the greater New York City metro area and at www.wendyperrin.com.

Perrin has been a TripAdvisor member since 2005. 

For more information on TripAdvisor, visit: www.tripadvisor.com.

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, reaching more than 260 million unique monthly visitors** in 2013, and more than 150 million reviews and opinions covering more than 3.7 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 38 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 20 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, 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.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn. 

 *Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, December 2013

 **Source: Google Analytics, worldwide data, July 2013

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SOURCE TripAdvisor