Tripadvisor Announces New Customer Care Enhancements With Dedicated Staff and Customer Support Number

LONDON, November 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

SueWorth Appointed as Customer Care Manager, EMEA to Lead EU Customer Support Team

TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel website, is expanding its customer care division with the appointment of Sue Worth in the newly created position of Customer Care Manager, EMEA and the launch of a dedicated customer support number for registered owners and managers on TripAdvisor*.

Sue's role includes leading a new European customer care unit dedicated to supporting the hospitality industry and delivering a superior customer experience for TripAdvisor's owner communities. The announcement of this appointment coincides with the launch of a brand new customer care number for registered owners. As of the 8^th of November (2011), TripAdvisor will be offering to hospitality business owners and managers a dedicated phone line for general customer care inquiries*.

TripAdvisor is pleased to be launching such a major update to its customer support programme, following the appointment of John Dila as Director of Customer Care in March 2011, with the aim of offering responsive, high-quality customer service to the hospitality industry.

"We're delighted to have Sue on-board," commented John Dila, Director of Customer Care at TripAdvisor. "Her years of industry experience and her natural inclination toward superb customer service delivery will be integral in developing excellent customer care for the EMEA region, an integral part of our global operations for success. This appointment, along with our new dedicated customer support number sends a strong message about our commitment to delivering quality customer care for accommodation owners."

Sue Worth has a wealth of experience in customer care in Europe and beyond, having worked for tour operators, airlines and accommodation organisations. Sue has been Guest Relations Manager for the Gloucester Hotel in London and has been responsible for implementing customer experience programmes for a number of high profile companies in the technology and hospitality sectors, including Gulf Air Holidays.

Sue joins TripAdvisor from a division of Invensys Operations Management, a FTSE100 company specialising in carbon and energy solutions, where she led their customer experience unit.

"I am delighted to be joining TripAdvisor and working with the new customer care team with the aim of providing great customer care at all times," commented Sue. "I am very much looking forward to developing the relationships we have with our European members and owners."

TripAdvisor will be launching the customer service number in the UK and Italy to registered owners, before rolling out language-specific phone numbers for the rest of EMEA, APAC and the Americas.

Accommodation owners are also invited to attend Master Classes to learn more about working with TripAdvisor and online reputation management. There will be two events for the UK hospitality industry in November - Liverpool 15^th November and Exeter on the 17^th of November.

Liverpool, November 15, 2011
Morning Session: 09:30 - 12:00, Afternoon Session: 13:30 - 16:00
Marriott Hotel City Centre, One Queen Square, Liverpool, L1 1RH

Exeter, November 17, 2011
Morning Session: 09:30 -12:00, Afternoon Session: 13:30 - 16:00
The Rougemont Hotel, Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3SP

Please visit http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/owners for the customer support number and for more information about Master Classes, see http://www.tripadvisormasterclass.com

*The Customer Support number will be available on http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk and http://www.tripadvisor.it as of November 8^th, 09:00 GMT. Customer support numbers for the rest of EMEA, APAC and the Americas will be launched in the next few months.

About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and Instant Personalization) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor® Media Group, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 65 million unique monthly visitors* across 19 popular travel brands**. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 50 million unique monthly visitors***, 20 million members, and over 50 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide****, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives.

TripAdvisor Media Group websites have been recognized as top travel resources in 2010 by Condé Nast Traveller, Good Housekeeping, TIME magazine and Travel + Leisure.

TripAdvisor Media Group generated $486 million in revenue in 2010.  TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Group are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE).

TripAdvisor and the TripAdvisor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

©2011 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Media Group Sites, Worldwide, July 2011

** In addition to TripAdvisor, The TripAdvisor Media Group of websites includes: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com, http://www.bookingbuddy.com, http://www.cruisecritic.com, http://www.everytrail.com, http://www.familyvacationcritic.com, http://www.flipkey.com, http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk, http://www.holidaywatchdog.com, http://www.independenttraveler.com, http://www.onetime.com, http://www.seatguru.com, http://www.sniqueaway.com, http://www.smartertravel.com, http://www.travel-library.com, http://www.travelpod.com, http://www.virtualtourist.com, http://www.whereivebeen.com, and http://www.kuxun.cn.

***Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, July 2011

**** TripAdvisor sites operate in 30 countries worldwide: http://www.tripadvisor.com, http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk, http://www.tripadvisor.ca, http://www.tripadvisor.it, http://www.tripadvisor.es, http://www.tripadvisor.de, http://www.tripadvisor.fr, http://www.tripadvisor.jp, http://www.daodao.com, http://www.tripadvisor.in, http://www.tripadvisor.se, http://www.tripadvisor.nl, http://www.tripadvisor.com.br, http://www.tripadvisor.com.tr, http://www.tripadvisor.dk, http://www.tripadvisor.com.mx, http://www.tripadvisor.ie, http://www.tripadvisor.com.au, http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg, http://www.tripadvisor.co.kr, no.tripadvisor.com, pl.tripadvisor.com, th.tripadvisor.com, http://www.tripadvisor.ru, http://www.tripadvisor.com.gr, http://www.tripadvisor.co.id, http://www.tripadvisor.com.ar, http://www.tripadvisor.tw, http://www.tripadvisor.com.my, and http://www.tripadvisor.com.eg.

SOURCE TripAdvisor