Hotel Digital Marketing Blog

TripAdvisor Goes Social

New Social Version of Trip Advisor Site Will Go Live Later This Year

TripAdvisor’s CEO, Steve Kaufer, has announced that by the end of 2018, there will be a major relaunch of the site to be transformed into a “personalized travel feed” that includes photos, videos, articles, travel guides, reviews, and more.

The travel feed will be a completely redesigned website and mobile app created by TripAdvisor that turns users from simply finding hotels, flights, and restaurants, to actually connecting with other people and brands about trips and traveling.

Check Out The Video

The all new TripAdvisor plans to be a combination of a social media news feed, a travel planning and booking platform, and a review site all wrapped up into one social network. Users can follow and connect with their friends and brands, influencers, publishers, and travel experts to be able to see relevant travel recommendations and inspiration revolving around content they are interested in.

When searching for a certain destination, the travel feed narrows down all information displayed to be relevant to that geographic location. Users will be able to post their own travel advice and photos as well as create lists of recommendations for others who choose to follow them.

The new platform will be mutually beneficial for both users and brands because reviews and opinions are shared as inspiration and when users are ready to make their travel plans come to life, they can book directly through the site.

Another feature of the new TripAdvisor will be the ability to save any post to a “trip file” to be used as a guide for planning before and during trips. Your “trip file” can range anywhere from a simple wish list of things to do to an in-depth travel guide and itinerary. There will be an option to make trip files private or to be shared to inspire other travelers in the feed.

Also, during a trip, users will be notified when they are near something that one of their friends has reviewed on TripAdvisor – making sure you never miss a great place.

TripAdvisor is aiming to be the all-in-one travel site with a look and feel very similar to other popular social media platforms. Allowing users to discover and share helpful travel content in a personalized and connected travel community will make planning and booking trips much easier.

How does this affect hotel owners?

It means that you need to stay coming out of everyone’s mouth by remaining active on social media and encouraging likes, shares, and interaction. The new TripAdvisor travel feed will put users’ connections’ likes and recommendations at the top. If you cannot be engaging in the online atmosphere, then your hotel won’t be shown as a relevant suggestion for users searching near your area.