TripAdvisor, the hotel and destination review website, is set to be on the receiving end of a major overhaul and could be relaunched as soon as the first quarter of 2007. Users of the Expedia-owned site, which has now clocked up five million user-generated and professional reviews and regularly attracts 20 million visitors a month,…
TripAdvisor to relaunch in 2007
TripAdvisor, the hotel and destination review website, is set to be on the receiving end of a major overhaul and could be relaunched as soon as the first quarter of 2007.
Users of the Expedia-owned site, which has now clocked up five million user-generated and professional reviews and regularly attracts 20 million visitors a month, will see a “significant” re-design in early-2007, chief executive and president Steve Kaufer told Travolution.
Kaufer, who said he likened TripAdvisor to a library as more content and reviews have been created by users, admitted: “There is more and more stuff on there now, but it is time to have a look at it.”
The revamping will go some way to addressing what some senior industry figures, all of whom are strong supporters of the TripAdvisor model, have claimed has been a gradual “cluttering” of the site in recent years as more functionality and tools have been added.
Kaufer said: “We are aiming to make the site better to navigate and more inspirational in nature.
In 2006, TripAdvisor has already created GoLists and TripAdvisor Inside, a wiki-style travel guide for users.
TripAdvisor has been widely praised by both consumers and the industry in recent years following its massive climb into the top travel websites on the internet.
The number of reviews has soared from two million in June 2005 to its current level of five million.
The site was launched by Kaufer and co-founder Langley Steiner in 2000. InterActiveCorp bought the company in 2004 and it now sites alongside Hotels.com within the Expedia empire.
TripAdvisor created a new post of managing director for Europe earlier this year to spearhead the roll out of country sites. Marc Charron took up the post in May and is responsible for TripAdvisor.co.uk among other sites.
