NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor^®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced the launch of its innovative TripConnect™ service. The self-service platform, a first for the hospitality sector, allows TripAdvisor Business Listings subscribers to participate in Hotel Price Comparison and to drive direct bookings from TripAdvisor to their own property's website.

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Each month, over 260 million unique users visit TripAdvisor to plan travel. TripConnect will enable independent accommodation owners to bid for this traffic, an option previously only available to online travel agents and large hotel chains. These independent hotels and B&Bs will be able to add their own room rates and availability, allowing travelers to click directly through to the property's own website to make a booking.

Designed with, and tested by hoteliers, TripConnect complements the recent launch of Hotel Price Comparison, which allows visitors to TripAdvisor sites to see real-time room rates and availability from various booking partners at the same time. The visitor can now click on the search results link of their choice, be it the hotel itself or an OTA, and make their reservation.

"We are delighted to bring to market a service that fills a need for the hoteliers in the industry," said Jean-Charles Lacoste, vice president of direct connect solutions at TripAdvisor. "It's a unique way we can use technology to level the travel accommodation landscape, placing small and independent properties on an equal footing with large hotels and online travel agencies.  Clearly TripConnect is fulfilling a need, as evidenced by the significant number of Internet booking engines working with us to provide this platform to their customers. TripConnect is designed to help independent owners drive more direct bookings and increase revenues, as well as collect more reviews and track performance."

TripConnect is a self-service platform that is easy and seamless to use. Independent hotels and B&Bs that subscribe to TripAdvisor Business Listings can simply place a bid that reflects their budget. They can bid for a favorable position in the Hotel Price Comparison rankings by choosing how much they wish to pay per click.

TripConnect is a cost-per-click solution, which means that participating hoteliers only pay when a traveler clicks through to their website, or more specifically, to their website's reservation page. This is likely to increase the number of 'click-throughs' to the property and therefore likely to increase bookings. This simple user interface was designed to save property owners time in their marketing efforts. It also provides a better user experience for travelers.

In order to participate, hoteliers and B&B owners must have a valid Business Listing with TripAdvisor and work with an Internet booking engine that partners with TripAdvisor in providing TripConnect. 

Additional TripConnect features include automated post-trip review collection through Review Express and revenue tracking services, enabling TripConnect users to monitor the benefits of the service. More information can be found at www.tripadvisor.com/tripconnect or via TripAdvisor Insights.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

TripConnect has generated a lot of interest in the U.S. with a number of Internet booking engines already signing up to be partners, including Anand Systems Inc, Dashbell, Open Hospitality LLC, RezStream and TEST Provisioning.

For more information, please visit www.tripadvisor.com/TripConnectFAQ.

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 260 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 125 million reviews and opinions covering more than 3.1 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 34 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 21 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, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn. 

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

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

©2013 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved. 

SOURCE TripAdvisor