TripAdvisor, which labels itself as the world’s largest travel guidance platform, encourages travellers to review any number of leisure and activity-related brands, landmarks, destinations and restaurants. The company reached half a billion reviews in 2017, 17 years after it launched. Its latest milestone, reaching one billion reviews, comes just five years later.
Stephen Kaufer, President and CEO, Tripadvisor, commented: “We are so grateful for the contributions that the Tripadvisor community has made over these last 22 years. Trusted reviews and opinions from travellers are the heart and soul of the platform and help make everyone a better traveller, enabling millions of businesses to flourish and drive trillions of dollars in economic value across the globe.”
One of the reasons the portal is so popular, the company claims, is because it allows reviewers to leave longer and more insightful verdicts than other travel agent websites and search engines.
On average, reviews are threefold longer than TripAdvisor’s competitors, with the average review comprising 688 characters.
Some interesting facts, in addition to Luxor receiving the 'most-reviewed accommodation', included Portugal’s Pastéis de Belém receiving ‘most-reviewed restaurant,’ with 52,600 reviews and Barcelona’s Basílica de la Sagrada Familia receiving ‘most-reviewed attraction,’ with 164,000 reviews.
The longest English-language review written stands at over 17,000 words, written about the Hotel Playa Pesquero Resort in Cuba, while the most prolific member has added over 7,000 reviews since 2015.
On the casino front, Nevada’s Atlantis Casino Resort Spa is the highest-ranked casino venue in the US, whereas Cyprus’ Concorde Luxury Resort & Casino was the best-rated in Europe.
To mark the occasion, TripAdvisor is promoting ‘Write a Review Day’, on 3 May 2022, which will encourage travellers to leave a review of a recent experience. The company hopes this can help stimulate the travel industry following the Covid-19 pandemic.
