TripAdvisor acquires cruise evaluation site
TripAdvisor has acquired The Independent Traveler, Inc., publisher of Cruise Critic.
“Kathleen Tucker and her team have done a phenomenal job building the most popular cruise community in the world,” said Stephen Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. He added:
“This acquisition is a great addition to our portfolio of leading travel communities and content sites and gives us a strong foothold in the $32 billion cruise market.”
“TripAdvisor’s model of acquiring best-of-breed travel media companies and allowing them to continue to operate independently is ideal for us,” said Kathleen Tucker, founder and president of The Independent Traveler, Inc.
The Independent Traveler, based in Pennington, New Jersey, generates the majority of its revenue through online advertising and content licensing. Terms of the acquisition are undisclosed but the company says it operates profitably.
There are no near-term plans for extensive integration of the business or the Web domains and no staffing changes are expected, according to company officials.
Tripadvisor.com has defended the integrity of its hotel reviews following suggestions at a recent conference that fraudulent reviews are still being published.
Senior executive Marc Charron claimed that the site is getting more sophisticated at detecting false reviews – and secondly that its readers are savvy enough to ignore bogus entries.
As the largest website for user hotel reviews, the site receives around 1,400 reviews a day, and in the past has been criticized for allowing reviews to be published that are not posted by genuine guests.
Report by David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025