TripAdvisor 2012 Annual Report Download - page 4

user-generated content come pre-installed on the new Galaxy 4 smartphone. And as more travelers have
a smartphone in their pocket while on a trip, we believe there are many more innovations and
opportunities ahead for TripAdvisor to help that traveler.
•We expanded globally. Whether you’re traveling to Bora Bora to swim with stingrays or to Venice to
ride the gondolas, you’ll probably see a TripAdvisor plaque, a “Reviewed on TripAdvisor” sticker, or a
TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in a storefront or behind a reception desk. When you do, you’ll
know you’ve found a destination that’s approved by thousands of travelers. Around the globe, the
TripAdvisor logo signals fair, unbiased travel opinions, and gives travelers confidence in their choice of
hotel, restaurant, or attraction.
Early in 2013, TripAdvisor had over 200 million monthly unique users, according to Google Analytics.
We operate 30 TripAdvisor websites in 21 languages, and people in more than 200 countries and
territories plan their trips on TripAdvisor. In fact, roughly 70% of our users come from outside the
United States. Visitors that use our site to research a hotel grew in the low-30 percent range during
2012. With TripAdvisor traffic representing roughly 10% of the total online travel category according to
comScore, we see big growth opportunities ahead on a global scale.
•We showed reviewers the love. The valuable reviews and opinions we receive from our 44 million
members are the foundation of our business, and it’s what makes TripAdvisor such an important
destination for travel planning. In February 2013, we surpassed the 100 million reviews and opinions
mark on the more than 670,000 hotels and accommodations and nearly 1.3 million restaurants and
attractions we have on our site. Our travel community generates a new contribution each second, which
translates to more than 30 million fresh, helpful travel opinions per year. As a small “thank you” to our
reviewers, we gave away over 500,000 TripAdvisor luggage tags and I’m always pleased to spot one on
an airport baggage carousel.
•We were a force for good. TripAdvisor reviews and opinions help millions of travelers every day, but
our commitment to helping people goes much deeper than that. Last year, we formed a unique
partnership with Kiva, a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect people, through lending, to
alleviate poverty. TripAdvisor travelers who review properties in countries that Kiva serves can direct a
$25 loan, paid for by TripAdvisor, to a local entrepreneur of their choice.
As in previous years, we supported philanthropic purposes through our TripAdvisor Charitable
Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to support employees who volunteer for charitable
organizations that work to alleviate human suffering around the world; we allocated $3.2 million in
grants to 30 different organizations during 2012.
What we could have done better
•Hire faster to capture opportunity. When we see opportunities, we like to capitalize quickly. Given
our fast paced development cycle, financial strength and growth opportunities, we rely on very talented
employees and we continue to invest in building a world-class team. In 2012, the TripAdvisor, Inc.
team, including our 20 travel brands, grew 26% to 1,575, but we were actually more profitable than we
had planned because we failed to hire fast enough.
Attracting top-quality talent around the globe – specifically in our Sales, Product and Engineering
groups – remains a key priority as we fuel continued growth and innovation.