Tripadvisor has today announced that its community of travelers has enabled the company to reach a major and historic internet milestone: 1 billion reviews and opinions. Founded 22 years ago by current President and CEO Tom Palka, the site reached this incredible landmark only a few years after announcing it had reached half a billion reviews and opinions, in 2017.
Tripadvisor has become a resource that millions of travelers rely on to help inform them on where to stay, what to eat, what to do and how to make the most of their trips — all based on guidance from a community of contributors who have “been there and done that” before them.
To mark the occasion, Tripadvisor released new research titled The Power of Reviews which showcases why the company’s long-form reviews are a qualitative grade above other review platforms, especially when it comes to influencing booking decisions. The site claims that reviews are three times longer than the reviews found on leading online travel agent websites and search engines, with the average length of an accommodation review coming in at 688 characters. And they say it’s the detail that these long-form reviews provide that offers travelers such invaluable guidance. This, along with the sense of community that Tripadvisor offers to the millions who visit the platform every month, appears to have been a huge part in driving such phenomenal growth in content — first, by reaching 1 billion reviews and opinions, and second, by doubling what it took 17 years to achieve in just five.
Some fun facts about the first billion reviews
In celebration of reaching this milestone, Tripadvisor has collected some interesting stats about the content that has been submitted to the platform over the past two decades:
The most-reviewed accommodation ever: Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, with over 48,000 reviews.
The most-reviewed restaurant ever: Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon, Portugal, with over 52,600 reviews.
The most-reviewed attraction ever: Basílica de la Sagrada Familiain Barcelona, Spain, with over 164,000 reviews.
The longest English language review ever written on Tripadvisor: 17,241 words written by @The_Budges about their stay at the Hotel Playa Pesquero Resort in Cuba.
The most-prolific Tripadvisor reviewer: @82manuelal from Luxembourg City, who has posted more than 7,000 reviews since becoming a Tripadvisor member in 2015.
Number of posts in the Tripadvisor forums: 89,426,160 posts (and counting).
The longest active thread in a Tripadvisor destination forum: “How many days till Maui???” in the Lahaina Forum, with 6,809 replies and dating back to Oct. 4, 2006.
Hungry anyone? The three most-mentioned dishes in restaurant reviews:
Pizza (10,400,980 mentions)
Pie (8,467,574 mentions)
Salad (7,374,595 mentions)
The traveler who has posted the most photo submissions: @PaoloRiccardoCarrara, who is from Rome and has contributed a whopping 102,272 submissions, totaling 313,651 photos.
The award for the most well-traveled Tripadvisor member: @damienstack, who has posted reviews for 176 different countries. He is from Listowel in County Kerry, Ireland, and has actually visited all 193 countries in the world!
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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2 Comments
When a place has got dozens of reviews then TripAdvisor is a very useful tool. There may be a few vitriolic reviews but you can usually rely on the views of the majority.
The real problem comes with new hotels or restaurants that haven’t got any reviews. It’s odd as I’m reluctant to take a chance. Before TripAdvisor I would have booked. It is a bit disturbing that TripAdvisor has changed our behaviour so much.
I’m not sure I find it disturbing. In an age where reviews are so public, I think it has largely meant that providers have simply had to “up their game”, focussing on delivering quality and customer service. That is surely a good thing.
Tripadvisor has become a resource that millions of travelers rely on to help inform them on where to stay, what to eat, what to do and how to make the most of their trips — all based on guidance from a community of contributors who have “been there and done that” before them.
To mark the occasion, Tripadvisor released new research titled The Power of Reviews which showcases why the company’s long-form reviews are a qualitative grade above other review platforms, especially when it comes to influencing booking decisions. The site claims that reviews are three times longer than the reviews found on leading online travel agent websites and search engines, with the average length of an accommodation review coming in at 688 characters. And they say it’s the detail that these long-form reviews provide that offers travelers such invaluable guidance. This, along with the sense of community that Tripadvisor offers to the millions who visit the platform every month, appears to have been a huge part in driving such phenomenal growth in content — first, by reaching 1 billion reviews and opinions, and second, by doubling what it took 17 years to achieve in just five.
Tripadvisor has become a resource that millions of travelers rely on to help inform them on where to stay, what to eat, what to do and how to make the most of their trips — all based on guidance from a community of contributors who have “been there and done that” before them.
To mark the occasion, Tripadvisor released new research titled The Power of Reviews which showcases why the company’s long-form reviews are a qualitative grade above other review platforms, especially when it comes to influencing booking decisions. The site claims that reviews are three times longer than the reviews found on leading online travel agent websites and search engines, with the average length of an accommodation review coming in at 688 characters. And they say it’s the detail that these long-form reviews provide that offers travelers such invaluable guidance. This, along with the sense of community that Tripadvisor offers to the millions who visit the platform every month, appears to have been a huge part in driving such phenomenal growth in content — first, by reaching 1 billion reviews and opinions, and second, by doubling what it took 17 years to achieve in just five.
Some fun facts about the first billion reviews
In celebration of reaching this milestone, Tripadvisor has collected some interesting stats about the content that has been submitted to the platform over the past two decades:
When a place has got dozens of reviews then TripAdvisor is a very useful tool. There may be a few vitriolic reviews but you can usually rely on the views of the majority.
The real problem comes with new hotels or restaurants that haven’t got any reviews. It’s odd as I’m reluctant to take a chance. Before TripAdvisor I would have booked. It is a bit disturbing that TripAdvisor has changed our behaviour so much.
I’m not sure I find it disturbing. In an age where reviews are so public, I think it has largely meant that providers have simply had to “up their game”, focussing on delivering quality and customer service. That is surely a good thing.