trip advisor
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Maud Larpent, Trip Advisor at the E-Tourism Africa Summit, Johannesburg 2009TRANSCRIPT
12/8/2009 7:20 PM
E-Tourism Africa Summit
Johannesburg - December 2009
1
Who are we?
TripAdvisor is the most popular and largest travel community with…
• more than 25 million unique visitors per month• 11 million registered members• 30 million reviews and opinions on …•… 1 million+ destinations, hotels, attractions, and restaurants
We’re all about UGC!
2
TripAdvisor worldwide presence
The site is now available in 10 languages and 14 countries… more to come!
3
Base: 12,677 European AdultsSource: Forrester’s Technology Benchmark Study Q2 2008
Why bother with Internet and Social Media (in case you were wondering)
The majority of online consumers rely on the internet for travel research
4
Travellers research their holidays to Africa on TripAdvisor
Total Page Views in Oct 09: 23.9 Million
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
30,000,000
Jan-08
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
May-08
Jun-08
Jul-08
Aug-08
Sep-08
Oct-08
Nov-08
Dec-08
Jan-09
Feb-09
Mar-09
Apr-09
May-09
Jun-09
Jul-09
Aug-09
Sep-09
Oct-09
Up 90% year-on-year!
5
A Global Audience
Page Views by country of IP
Visitors looking at Africa Visitors looking at South Africa
GBR37%
FRA9%ITA
7%
USA7%
DEU5%
ESP4%
ZAF2%
BEL2%
NLD2%
CHE2%
OTHER23%
GBR26%
ZAF19%
USA14%
DEU7%
NLD3%
FRA3%
CAN2%
AUS2%
IRL2%
ITA2%
OTHER20%
GBR30%
FRA23%
TUN8%
DEU7%
ITA5%
ESP4%
BEL4%
CHE2%
CAN2%
USA2%
OTHER13%
Visitors looking at Tunisia
6
What are the consumers searching for?
• Online shoppers still plan to travel but spend less
• Consumers are shopping around more than ever
• 77% of online shoppers look to user ratings and reviews to help them spend in a savvy way
Source: JupiterResearch for Bazaarvoice and richrelevant, based on a survey of 800 consumers, February 2009
7
From Eric Schmidt at the Gartner conference in Orlando in October:
“(There is) a fundamental shift to user-generated content which has a lot of implications. Most people’s information will come
from other information as opposed to traditional sources. You’ll tend to listen to other people more than anything else.“
8
Why are user reviews so successful?
76%
65%
63%
60%
50%
48%
47%
22%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Reviews from like-mindedpeople most useful
UGC is important part oftravel research
UGC is more reliable thantravel agents
UGC had strong impact onaccommodation choice
UGC photographs are forentertainment
Concerned about "planted"reviews
UGC had strong impact ondestination choice
Too much UGC available
Percentage of Online Travel Researchers Using UGC in their research
Source: Jupiter ResearchUS Online Travel Consumer Survey Published May 2008
9
Why are user reviews so successful?
1.Trust
2.Freshness
3.Authenticity
Travellers are today’s opinion
formers
“Most relaxing, amazing place on
earth”
- Guest who stayed atFunzi Keys, Mombasa
“Very, very happy with the location, the staff
and the amazing owners”
- Guest who stayed atBlackheath Lodge, Cape
Town
10
More Raves than Rants
Reviews on TripAdvisor Are Largely Positive – Average Score is 3.74
4.1%
12.5%
33.4%
38.6%
11.3%
0.04%0%5%
10%
15%20%25%30%
35%40%45%
1.5 2 - 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 - 5Traveller Rating
11
Don’t Miss Out!!
• Community sites are where the conversations are happening now
• It’s cheap to get involved
• The viral effect can be extremely effective
12
How can you use this trend to your benefit?
1. The Basics
2. Get Involved
3. Serious About UGC
13
The Basics
Listen to what travellers say about your property / destination!
• Sign up to RSS feedsfor the TripAdvisor forums
• Google Alerts
• TripAdvisor Email notification for property owners
14
Get Involved
• Create a Facebook Page
• On TripAdvisor:
Add photos and videos
Engage in the TripAdvisor forums
Respond to Reviews
15
Serious About UGC
Integrate traveller generated content on your site
• Consumer reviews drive conversion
• Greater depth of info to refine decision-making
• Embracing dialogue drives loyalty
• All content is co-branded to associate with TripAdvisor authority and independence
16
Hotel, Attraction and Restaurant Reviews
17
Partnerships with Destination Organisations
18
In Summary…
• User Generated Content is here to stay…
•… and is very valuable for customers
• Join in the conversation and make the most of it!
19
Questions?