TripAdvisor boasts £1.7bn sales as Mail Travel launches
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TripAdvisor has boasted its web traffic contributes towards £1.7bn of tourism spending in the UK and supports a significant part of 42,000 jobs a year.
The reviews site believes a quarter of people have stayed longer, spent more or engaged in more activities as a result of its page views, with the average domestic spending per trip 20% higher than the average online booking. It has argued that its user-generated content has resulted in an even playing field and more than half of respondents end up finding non-chain hotels.
“Travel consumers can now afford to be more selective in their purchasing decisions which has really seen those providing a quality product or service in this industry rise to the top,” said David Goodger, director of Tourism Economics, which commissioned the report with TripAdvisor. “The great thing about UGC sites is that in addition to building consumer confidence and increasing spending prior to travel, they have levelled the playing field for businesses big and small”.
Meanwhile A&N Media, which owns the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro, has launched a new consumer-facing holiday website at mailtravel.co.uk. The site aims to offer hand-picked holiday deals to affluent Mail readers.