TripAdvisor has launched a new service called traveller network to enable its 20 million monthly users to prioritise online reviews and advice from family and friends rather than general users.
Announcing the launch today, TripAdvisor’s managing director Europe Marc Charron said the new service would help users navigate through its online reviews, which have doubled over the last year from five to 10 million, and access more useful content from trusted sources.
“We want to build that extra layer of confidence,” said Charron, adding, “We feel this a natural evolution for us, but this is just the starting point.”
Users register on the new site and create a personal profile and a ‘travel map’, based on a mash-up with Google maps, to show others where they have been. They then invite friends and family members to join their network by uploading their email addresses either manually or from their email accounts.
Then by conducting a destination search they can see who has been to that destination and what they did there and what they thought of it.
The new traveller network service went live on the online travel community’s main website last Friday and will be available on its localised sites later in the year.