Social media round-up
TripAdvisor, one of the world’s most popular travel websites, recently announced that it had reached the 150-million review milestone. The rapid growth of TripAdvisor is demonstrated in the fact that one third of those reviews were posted in 2013. This marks a 50% year-on-year increase, which highlights the popularity and growing need for user-generated reviews in the travel planning and booking process. A study commissioned by the web giant found that more than half of respondents wanted to read a hotel review before booking and 80% of users read six to twelve reviews before making a decision. Interesting figures – not to be ignored.
While you’re browsing TripAdvisor’s 150-million reviews, why not check out "Mary Johnston", the 87th best attraction in the city of Glasgow, topping the concert arena where Beyoncé recently performed. Don’t worry if you’re feeling out of the loop; Glasgow’s latest attraction is in fact another TripAdvisor user, who has had the misfortune of accidently setting up an attraction when trying to create a profile. Apparently this is no easy feat, due to the site’s strict listings policy, which might be testament to how remarkable Mary Johnston really is.
Virgin America has teamed up with cult ice-cream brand, Humphry Slocombe, to add a signature flavour to its new in-flight menu for First Class passengers. The decision as to which flavour ‘Sweetens the Skies‘ and makes the cut is down to Twitter users. They have until today (Friday 28 February) to vote using the hashtag for each ice-cream creation: #ButterByMoodlight (buttery with a blueberry glaze), #RedHotBanana (banana cream with sweet cinnamon spice from mashed Red Hots sweets) or #CoconutBlondAmbition (vanilla marshmallow fluff meets lemon sorbet). Mmm, that’s a tough decision!
And finally… a Welsh husband produced a star-studded wedding video for his bride after asking celebrities on Twitter to help him out. The 12-minute video took Steven Williams a year to compile and includes messages from celebrities such as TV personality Jonathan Ross, comedian Jimmy Carr and Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton. #shesaidyes
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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