NEEDHAM, MASS. AND PENNINGTON, N.J. - May 23, 2007 - TripAdvisor, LLC, the world's largest travel community and an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), today announced it has acquired The Independent Traveler, Inc., publisher of IndependentTraveler.com and CruiseCritic.com.
"TripAdvisor's model of acquiring best-of-breed travel media companies and allowing them to continue to operate independently is ideal for us," said Kathleen Tucker, founder and president of The Independent Traveler, Inc. "By joining the TripAdvisor family, we will have more resources to continue to build our business [and] expand internationally."
"This acquisition is a great addition to our portfolio of leading travel communities and content sites," said Stephen Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. "Kathleen Tucker will continue to lead the team and we expect continued growth and excellence from The Independent Traveler sites."
The Independent Traveler, based in Pennington, New Jersey, generates the majority of its revenue through online advertising and content licensing. Terms of the acquisition are undisclosed but the company operates profitably. There are no near-term plans for extensive integration of the business or the Web domains, and no staffing changes are expected.
The Independent Traveler, Inc.:
IndependentTraveler.com - The Independent Traveler debuted on America Online in 1990 and quickly established its credentials as an authoritative Internet resource for objective travel information. Over the past 17 years, The Independent Traveler has developed a loyal following and a devoted online community as it has expanded to include extensive worldwide travel bargains, travel advice, recommendations, and trip reports written by travelers.
Cruise Critic - With approximately five million visitors per year, Cruise Critic is a critically acclaimed interactive community comprised of avid and first-time cruisers who enjoy the fun of planning, researching and sharing their passion for cruising. No other single resource covers the world of cruising as thoroughly as Cruise Critic. Cruise Critic's world-renowned editorial staff offers objective cruise reviews, features, ports of call profiles and destination stories. The Cruise Critic message boards are the most active in the world. Since its launch in 1995, Cruise Critic has been recognized as the most influential cruise site on the Web, and an innovator of consumer-oriented cruise travel news.
TripAdvisor also recently announced the acquisition of smartertravel.com, bookingbuddy.com; SeatGuru.com; TravelPod.com; and Travel-Library.com.
About TripAdvisor LLC
Tripadvisor, LLC, the largest travel community in the world, attracts more than 24 million monthly visitors (source: comScore Media Metrix, Digital Calculator Report, March 2007) across seven popular travel brands, tripadvisor.comTM, bookingbuddy™.com, cruisecritic™.com, seatguru®.com, smartertravel™.com, travelpod™.com and travel-library™.com™. Tripadvisor.com features real advice from real travelers, with more than five million unbiased reviews and opinions, covering 250,000+ hotels and attractions and operates sites in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com) and in the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk). The TripAdvisor® media network provides travel suppliers with graphical advertising opportunities and a cost-per-click marketing platform. Collectively, TripAdvisor® sites have won hundreds of awards and accolades from press and industry, worldwide. TripAdvisor, LLC is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).
TripAdvisor and TripAdvisor.com are either trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
© 2007 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.
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