NEWTON, Mass., May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor^®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced the 2013 Certificate of Excellence award recipients. Now in its third year, the award celebrates hospitality excellence and is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor. Winners of the Certificate of Excellence are located all over the world and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on the website, with only the top 10 percent receiving the prestigious award.

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The Certificate of Excellence award is given to outstanding hospitality businesses that have received praise and recognition in reviews by TripAdvisor travelers. Winners of the award range from one-room bed and breakfasts to 6,000-room hotels, from bakeries to Michelin star restaurants and hidden attractions to world-renowned parks and museums.

"We're delighted to celebrate the success of hospitality businesses around the world, from Auckland to San Francisco, Hong Kong to Paris, which are consistently offering travelers an outstanding customer experience," said Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO, TripAdvisor. "The Certificate of Excellence award provides top performing establishments the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most — their customers."

Winning properties from Albania (22 winners) to Zimbabwe (42 winners) can showcase their success a number of ways, including displaying the Certificate of Excellence they receive in the coming weeks, uploading the award to their own website or by promoting the achievement to local media with a press release. Last year's winners promoted their award to great advantage through social media, highlighting their success on Twitter and on their business's Facebook page, as well as notifying past guests and customers of their win, thereby encouraging repeat visits!

TripAdvisor provides access to promotional services and tips for successful PR campaigns through the Management Center.

To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months.

The Certificate of Excellence program does not replace the TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice^® Awards, but is an extension of the TripAdvisor recognition of highly rated businesses, as reviewed by travelers on the world's largest travel site.

For more information and materials on the Certificate of Excellence program, as well as other resources to help businesses engage with travelers, please visit the TripAdvisor Management Center at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners.

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 200 million unique monthly visitors**, and over 100 million reviews and opinions covering more than 2.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. 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 20 other travel media brands: 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.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com,  www.onetime.com,www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn. 

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

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

©2013 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved. 

SOURCE TripAdvisor