NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor Media Group is honored to have received several leading industry awards for their travel websites.

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TripAdvisor Media Group attracts more than 50 million unique monthly visitors* across 18 popular travel brands: TripAdvisor®, Airfarewatchdog®, BookingBuddy®, Cruise Critic®, Family Vacation Critic™, FlipKey™, FrequentFlier™, Holiday Lettings™, Holiday Watchdog™, Independent Traveler.com®, OneTime™, SeatGuru®, SniqueAway™, SmarterTravel®, Travel Library™, TravelPod®, VirtualTourist®, and Kuxun™. The sites operate in 23 countries worldwide and have seen growth of 53% from August 2009 to August 2010**. TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site, recently became the first travel brand to have more than 40 million unique monthly visitors.

"TripAdvisor Media Group is honored to receive these prestigious awards for our brands that have been ranked among the top travel websites," said Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. "These external accolades to the TripAdvisor Media Group and the continued exceptionally strong growth of visitors to the sites, are a testament to the value they provide to consumers and industry leaders alike. We're pleased to continue to help millions of travelers around the world plan and experience the perfect trip."

Recent awards include:

Conde Nast Traveller

Conde Nast Traveller chose TripAdvisor as the recipient of the 2010 Readers' Travel Award for the highest rated travel website selected by readers (TripAdvisor.co.uk).

Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping chose TripAdvisor and Airfarewatchdog as two of the Top 5 Sites for Travel Bargains.

TIME

TIME selected SeatGuru in its exclusive list of the 50 Best Websites of 2010 for helping travelers pick the best seat on the plane.

Travel + Leisure

Airfarewatchdog, Cruise Critic, SeatGuru and TripAdvisor were chosen among the Top 70 Travel Websites by Travel + Leisure in its 2010 Best of the Web guide. The annual guide, featured in the October 2010 issue and on TravelandLeisure.com, reports on the top 70 travel sites for planning your next trip.

Visit our site for a full list of TripAdvisor awards.

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: www.tripadvisor.com, www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.frequentflier.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. 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 23 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com (http://www.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 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.

©2010 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.

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

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

SOURCE TripAdvisor