New TripAdvisor site to launch first in the UK

TripAdvisor will begin the global roll-out of its new website this week with a test version for the UK market. The Expedia-owned user review giant will first launch on the .co.uk site and is expected to be integrated on the main US platform by the end of the year. The new site is said to…


TripAdvisor will begin the global roll-out of its new website this week with a test version for the UK market.


The Expedia-owned user review giant will first launch on the .co.uk site and is expected to be integrated on the main US platform by the end of the year.


The new site is said to be “clean, simple and organised” and will mark a different approach for TripAdvisor, which has been criticised by some – including chief executive Steve Kaufer – for its increasingly cluttered homepage and navigation.


TripAdvisor said the UK had been chosen for the test site due to its “critical” importance as an individual market and to enable users to offer feedback before the wider launch of the site in all markets.


“The research patterns and site behavior of travellers from the UK are representative of our overall audience,” TripAdvisor said.


“Our site is really created by our travellers, not by us, so we were keenly focused on keeping TripAdvisor an unbiased and neutral forum throughout the redesign process. TripAdvisor is still all about real advice from real travellers.”


TripAdvisor has become the largest user review site in the world in little over seven years, boasting around 25 million unique users each month and over ten mlllion hotel reviews.


The site was bought by Expedia in 2004 but is still run by co-founder Kaufer. London-based Marc Charron runs European operations.


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