2. We’re the World’s
Largest Travel Community
490
MILLION
UNIQUE
MONTHLY USERS
730
MILLION
REVIEWS &
OPINIONS
256 NEW
CONTRIBUTIONS
POSTED EVERY
MINUTE
49 MARKETS
28 LANGUAGES
ACROSS THE
GLOBE
3. Most important content during
Trip Planning
VIDEO ARTICLES PHOTOS
36% 47% 45%
Answer Lab, 2018
REVIEWS:
OTHER TRAVELERS
66% FRIENDS & FAMILY:
SHARING TRIPS
62%REVIEWS:
OTHER TRAVELERS
66% FRIENDS & FAMILY:
SHARING TRIPS
62%
4. Reinventing travel again to meet the needs and expectations of
today’s savvy traveler
Anonymous advice...
Writing reviews...
Reviewing individual places...
Searching and digging...
Researching and planning...
One size fits all...
From
Personal connections & recommendations
Posting photos, videos, guides & lists
Sharing my collective travel story
Assistance in finding just what I want
Exploration and discovery
Personalized experience
To also:
5. 5
1
Expand and Connect
our Community
2
Create new ways to
create and share travel
recommendations
3
Make recommendations
discoverable when and
where I need it
Introducing the New TripAdvisor!
6. Expanding and Connecting our Community
Travelers Businesses Friends
Influencers Publishers and Brands
1
15. Traveler Path to Purchase
INSPIRATION SHOPPING DECISION
4
Source: comScore Worldwide Path To Purchase Study 2017
16. The Path to Purchase: Inspiration Phase
20+ WEEKS
PRE-BOOKING
Travelers are open
to inspiration
and possibilities
Why You Should Care:
During this time, you can
influence travelers to consider
your destination
INSPIRATION SHOPPIN
G
DECISION
8
SHOPPING DECISION
Source: comScore Worldwide Path To Purchase Study 2017
17. 73%
Source: comScore Worldwide Path To
Purchase Study 2017
of all first
searches in
the research
process are
generic
i.e. not brand or
destination specific
of all first
travel
searches
have a
destination
2%
18. 18
Inspiration Comes From Multiple Sources
TripAdvisor is more influential than other sources when choosing a destination
38%
of travelers used
word-of mouth
information
22%
of travelers used
content posted by
friends and family
when deciding on their
destination
22%
of travelers used media
when deciding on their
destination
44%
of travelers used
TripAdvisor
Source: TripBarometer 2016
26%
of travelers used
travel guide websites
19. 19
Tips for Inspiring Travelers
Keep the
Conversation
Alive
Collect, share and
respond to reviews
from travelers
Tell Your Story
Through
Photos
Invest in
inspirational
imagery & videos
20. The Path to Purchase: Shopping Phase
1-19 WEEKS
PRE-BOOKING
Travelers have selected their
destination and are now shopping for
places to stay
Why You Should Care:
This is an important time to appeal to
qualified travelers and become part of
their narrowed
consideration set
INSPIRATION SHOPPIN
G
DECISIONINSPIRATION
13
DECISION
Source: comScore Worldwide Path To Purchase Study 2017
21. 21
Travelers Engage in Many Activities While
Shopping for a Hotel
72%
72%
71%
62%
56%
29%
27%
SHOPPED FOR A
GOOD DEAL
SEARCHED HOTEL
INFORMATION
READ REVIEWS
ONLINE
LOOKED FOR HOTEL
RATINGS
LOOKED FOR HOTEL
PHOTOS/VIDEOS
ONLINE
READ TRAVEL
ONLINE/NEWS
ARTICLES
SOUGHT
RECOMMENDATIONS
FROM FRIENDS /
FAMILY / SOCIAL
NETWORKS
Source: Hall and Partners Study, ‘Uncovering the Customer Journey,’ 2016
22. 74%
of users
who book
on a hotel
site visit
TripAdvisor
Source: comScore Worldwide Path To Purchase Study 2017
17
25%
of all
shopping
time is
spent on
TripAdvisor
23. Top Tip for Influencing the Shopping Phase
20
Built for Accommodations
1. I want to pay for clicks,
not impressions
2. I want control and
flexability of my
marketing solutions
24. The Path to Purchase: Decision
0 WEEKS
BOOKING
The traveler selects a place
to stay and books
Why You Should Care:
This is the last opportunity
to influence travelers to
book with you
INSPIRATION SHOPPIN
G
DECISION
23
INSPIRATION SHOPPING
Source: comScore Worldwide Path To Purchase Study 2017
25. 25
93%
say price is
the strongest
booking
factor
say finding
a good deal
is most
important
Sources: 2016 TripBarometer Study
conducted by Ipsos & Hall and Partners
‘Uncovering the Customer Journey
72%
Say offers
influence
their final
decision
26. Tips to convert decision-ready travelers:
1. Provide reliable hotel information –
policies, directions, etc.
2. Emphasize best pricing or
lowest price guarantees
3. Invest in high quality photos of property
and room photos
4. Make pages easy-to-use and navigate
5. Clearly display credible ratings
and reviews
6. Think MOBILE in everything you do
Booking Website Features
3
21
4
5
Source: Hall and Partners Study, ‘Uncovering the Customer Journey,’ 2016
Notas do Editor
At the end of 2018 we rolled out a ‘New TripAdvisor’, better helping travelers easily discover, save and share great recommendations when planning their trips.
But how did we get there? - Many of you know the TripAdvisor story.
We revolutionized the industry by becoming one of the biggest review websites in the world.
We continued to evolve becoming more than just reviews
Hotel and air metasearch → experiences and restaurants → and all the while, we grew our community into one of the most assistive networks of people on the planet.
In 2018, we proudly support hundreds of millions of travelers each month planning their full trip experience
More than 8 million business listed & Connected on TripAdvisor and you are all part of the travel ecosystem. That has seen one wave of positive innovation and disruption after another. Travel and the internet have been wonderful to each other.
But there is so much more that can be done…
So we asked ourselves if TripAdvisor could be the “one button” platform to meet all travelers needs – from discovery and planning, to booking and sharing – making it more inspiring and personal!!
We started our researches digging deeper into the challenges faced by so many travelers, and it became very clear to us that we could be a new TripAdvisor
A solution to many of the unmet needs of consumers that exist today.
Our research showed us that reviews still remain critically important to the travel planning process, with our +730m reviews and opinions (and growing), we had a foundation and a history that turned us into a leader.
But that same research showed us:
That travellers want to hear from friends or family about their favorite places to go.
And a new generation of highly mobile traveler was also hungry for inspiring videos and photos and expert advice in the articles from from publishers, brands and social influencers that made them want to visit new far off lands or try new cuisines or plan that next adventure.
And we don’t need research to tell us that with the explosion of social media sites, people love to share and post about their lives and travels and love to see what others are doing too next
So – we’ve evolved. To name a few points in terms of how we are shifting, we moved from:
Anonymous advice to better helping “you” as a traveler make more connections within our community of people you know or respect that deliver more relevant recommendations and advice.
We also have reviews as a part of our foundation at TripAdvisor, but we also pivot to deliver to travelers more inspiring photos, videos, articles and travel guide content from sources that inspire them
And we evolved beyond a one size fits all experience to something more personal.
TripAdvisor is now making travel planning easier. There is too much travel information available online and offline. Consumers search multiple travel sites because they have Fear Of Missing Out on an amazing experience.
Add animations
The new TripAdvisor is:
An expanded community
Creating amazing content that is useful too
That is discoverable through the new Travel Feed
What we aren’t trying to become is a social media site, but the new TripAdvisor enables social connectivity and uses socially-assistive tools allowing you to follow people and publishers you want, save and share inspirational content like trip lists, videos and photos to help them plan their trip.
We have an amazing community of travelers and business owners today all contributing and benefiting from wisdom of the travel crowd. But with the new TripAdvisor we’re expanding beyond that to include anyone who you would turn to for great travel recommendations. And that includes:
Your friends – we all have our go to friends who give the best travel advice or those we turn to because we know they’ve been to. A place you want to go
Publishers and Brands – tremendous content already produced that could be useful
As well as Influencers – users with deep expertise or interests that have attracted real loyal followings
And we’re not just expanding our community we also know each traveler has their own unique sense of who they trust for recommendations so we’re also looking to connecting the community as well.
Therefore with the new TripAdvisor we’re excited to introduce an updated profile page. A place where you can showcase your travel experiences
We have added Follow - giving you the ability to follow the people you trust
We are also making making it easier to find and follow your friends
And we’re excited that already over 3.000 publishers, brands, influencers and have already joined the new TripAdvisor experience including the Italian top media La Stampa, La Repubblica, TGCom, Traveller Conde Nast and travel influencers such as Insopportabile
Reviews have been our lifeblood and we’re not just excited about the amount of reviews but the true quality of reviews. And that investment early on to ensure we have the most trust worthy high quality reviews continues to benefit travelers and in turn have those travelers pay it back with equally high quality reviews
We’re also giving our community the ability to post articles. Publishers and Bloggers produce some amazing content, advice, tips and recommendations and we want to make sure all of that content is folded into the TripAdvisor experience
Finally video! One of our most requested content types makes it to our platform. And understandably so.
Travelers have increasingly taken amazing videos to document their trips.
And publishers, brands and influencers have raised the bar in amazing high quality video content that truly inspires you and gives you a real sense of the destination.
But we’re not just bringing content to our site, we also want to make that content useful. And when you’re travel planning, you not only want to be inspired by content, but you want the details to better help you experience those recommendations. You want to learn more about where the place is, is it open, does it meet your needs, how much does it cost, and of course can I book it.
So with every content posted, we’re highlighting the places and destinations that are recommended in the video, article, photo or review.
And of course every content shared is directly connected to the 8 Million business pages on our site giving travelers direct access to learn more, see if the business is open, the price to stay, the details of that tour.
We’re making Inspiration possible for all of our travelers. And if you love what you see and want to remember it for later you can always save the ideas as well
Speaking of saves… Let’s talk about lists.
In travel the list has taken many forms, the notebook of ideas, a spreadsheet, the manilla folder of printouts. It’s also where you share your recommendations be it a sea of links in an email, a travel guide book or even the tear out map at the hotel concierge
Today we’re simplifying and enhancing the list experience…
It can be private or public.
Privately, Trips can be used to plan your itinerary
Is collaborative
Each item is mapped
Gives you the ability to annotate
is connected to all details about that place
all in a beautiful package that gets you excited about your trip
Publicly Trips can serve as a beautiful travel guide you can consume as well as create yourself!
The sea of links you emailed your friend is now completely interactive and helpful
Annotations are now helpful tips
All information mapped and linked to the deep information on TripAdvisor
You’ve done your friend a real solid giving them a custom created travel guide
We’re excited to see what our community can build!
We are seeing some amazingly creative Trips created that will truly help our travelers out.
So we’re now connecting you to people and businesses you trust. We’re allowing the community to create amazing content that both inspires you while also helping you take action. But now how do we make that information discoverablee? How can we help you out without you having to seek it out?
We’ve therefore introduced a brand new experience on TripAdvisor called the Travel Feed
It’s a new surface to discover great travel recommendations. We’re taking the nearly decades work of data science in Travel and working with the largest travel dataset to build a discovery system that combines all the information that helps you prepare and enjoy your trip into a single feed
For example, if you’re planning a trip to Tuscany you want easy access in one place to information not only about hotels, restaurants and experiences, but also engaging influencer and media content on the best places to visit
All personalized to create a whole new kind of feed built for Travel and built for you
Let’s take a look at the new TA, and what hotels can currently do as part of the new TripAdvsior (Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by5NEypJjy4)
Traveler path to purchase - comprised of three levels: Inspiration, Shopping, and Decision
Inspiration phase marketing requires high reach to an audience that’s just starting to think about travel with lower booking intent
Shopping phase marketing reaches a more targeted audience with higher booking intent that is actively researching in your destination, but hasn’t made final decisions
Decision phase marketing is highly targeted to a small audience with very high booking intent
Timing: 20 weeks in advance of booking
What’s happening with travelers: they’re just beginning the process and are open to possibilities
Why it matters: ideal time to influence travelers to consider your destination or property
comScore study reveals interesting trends about the very beginning of inspiration
73% of all first searches in their whole research process do not include a specific brand or destination – example from images or study
Just 2% include a destination from the start
Similarly, our latest TripBarometer survey found 74% of travelers said they begin planning their trip by researching and choosing a destination.
Highlight some top sources, concluding with TripAdvisor as the biggest and most influential source
Key is to be strategic with investment at this stage because audience is largely unqualified.
Given the importance and growing influence of TripAdvisor in this stage, we encourage hoteliers to be mindful of their photos and reviews
Top photo tips: always use professional quality photos, include an array of photos so guests can get a feel of what to expect at your property, and mix up the style and format of photos. Photos without people in them tend to perform better as well.
TripAdvisor Business Advantage Preferred subscribers have access to Storyboard, Favorite Photos and Cover Photos, as well as Property Videos which allow you to tell a dynamic and engaging story about your property and really engage travelers. In fact, according to a 2018 Mazliah study, properties with Business Advantage Preferred Access see 32% more page views than properties without Business Advantage
Also, with the importance of word of mouth at this stage - continuing to collect and share reviews over time is a good way to appeal to this behavior
Timing: 1 – 19 weeks prior
What’s happening with travelers: they’ve selected a destination and are building a consideration set
Can tend to be a lot of anxiety in this stage as travelers work to ‘get it right’ also have a fair amount of missing out and fear of not finding the best deal
Why it matters: Audience of travelers is more qualified and more able to be influenced to consider your property
The Traveler Shopping Experience is Vast
Travelers are actively engaged in shopping for a while (average of 89 days, spent 164 minutes researching, consumed 182 pages, initiated 40 searches)
Metrics are significantly higher for TripAdvisor users vs. non-users; more opportunity to influence in this phase
Highlight specific activities travelers are engaged in & scope of everything they’re trying to do
Sheer amount of information available can either empower or overwhelm travelers
Regardless of the way travelers are feeling, and what activities they’re doing while research, one thing is the same. The majority of them are coming to TripAdvisor during this “shopping” phase to find their ideal accommodation
Emphasize that TripAdvisor is highly viewed by hotel purchasers
"As the world's largest travel site, TripAdvisor is visited prior to purchase by 74% of all users who book on a hotels site"
Amount of shopping time spent on TripAdvisor by purchasers is very high, representing a bit opportunity for hoteliers to influence travelers
1
Common marketing adage that dates back to movie studio marketers in the 1930’s, later popularized by Dr. Jeffrey Lant, that states customers need to receive your message 7 times.
Key point is not to overlook the importance of repetition of your message as the shopping process is long and includes lots of repeated visits and time spent.
But you don’t want to pay for each of those impressions – only ones where the traveler takes an action
In the case of TripAdvisor, Sponsored Placements help you stay at the top of people’s minds by appearing on various high profile pages across the site, but they also work on an easy pay-per-click model
2
Set goals for your campaigns and carefully track their impact on your bookings over time
Choose options that allow you to make optimizations over time and are flexible enough to meet your needs
(Sponsored Placements offers three separate budget options and allows you to flexibility to set up or cancel your campaign at any time)
Timing: 0 weeks prior to booking
What’s happening with travelers: they’re making final decisions and booking
Why it matters: Last opportunity to sway travelers to choose you
Reach at this phase is really limited, but you’re speaking with people who have really high booking intent for your property
Not surprisingly, price is reported as the most important factor at this stage
But don’t overlook the importance of a good deal. Offering a good deal that travelers can’t get at another property – or with another booking partner – is a good way to sway them. For example, this Temperature Guarantee is an interesting approach.
According a recent TripAdvisor study, top factors travelers are looking for on booking websites include:
Reliable hotel information including policies, directions
A reinforcement on best pricing, particularly low price guarantees
High quality photos
Easy to use and navigate site – on both desktop, and increasingly, on mobile
Clear reinforcement of ratings and reviews
In closing - 18 years ago we revolutionized the industry by enabling travelers to benefit from the wisdom of the crowds
Today:
We’ve become the world’s largest travel site
We have the largest, most engaged community of travelers and businesses
We have the most robust data to drive personalization and insights over the course of the entire trip influencing travellers’ decisions during the path to purchase
Going forward, the new TripAdvisor is the one site where you discover, research and book better than anywhere else online.
We will continue to innovate and make TA even better for travellers and tourism businesses all around the world!