Tripadvisor Launches ‘Travel Safe’ Tools, Making It Easy for Travelers to Find Important Health and Safety Information About Hotels and Restaurants Reopening During COVID-19

Tripadvisor®, the world’s largest travel platform, today launched a new suite of “Travel Safe” tools to help consumers find, filter for, and validate health and safety information to feel more confident with their future travel choices across town and around the world. Travel Safe features are available in all 49 markets where Tripadvisor operates, and more than 13,850 properties have already activated the feature set.

A recent study* from Tripadvisor found that for consumers thinking about future travel:
     ● More than 9 out of 10 (92%) said cleanliness is the most important factor in selecting accommodations.
     ● More than 8 in 10 (84%) said cleanliness or sanitization certificates are important when booking a travel experience.
     ● Nearly 8 in 10 (79%) said it’s important to publicly display compliance to government safety standards.

How Travel Safe helps travelers and business owners:
For travelers:
     ● Health & safety checklists: Leveraging expertise from public health organizations and industry associations across the globe, hotel and restaurant owners can share safety measures directly on their Tripadvisor listing. These include sanitation procedures, mask-wearing guidelines, social distancing policies, and more.
     ● Search filter: A new filter allows users to easily find which hotels and restaurants are taking these added safety precautions.
     ● Traveler reviews: New review submission form prompts allow users to validate safety measures and share their experiences with other travelers.
     ● Q&A with business owners: If users still have questions, they can directly message business owners about their safety measures (or anything else).

For owners:
     ● Businesses can now select safety measures they have in place at their property by accessing the checklist in their Tripadvisor management center (for free).
     ● The checklist also enables properties to submit a text description of the steps they are taking to protect customers, including links back to safety information on their own websites.

“If we want to get the world traveling again, the safety needs of consumers must be appreciated and recognized as the biggest hurdle to closing the confidence gap created by this pandemic,” said Lindsay Nelson, chief experience and brand officer, Tripadvisor, Inc. “With the launch of Travel Safe, we’re allowing owners to showcase how they’re putting health and safety at the forefront to protect their staff and future customers. As always, by submitting reviews, our hundreds of millions of members will be the best check and balance to ensure these businesses are responsibly abiding by their policies.”

“As travel restrictions ease, hospitality businesses must recognize the changing expectations from consumers around safety and cleanliness,” said Kanika Soni, chief commercial officer, Tripadvisor, Inc. “That is why Travel Safe will be such a vital tool. It will provide consumers with the information and reassurance they need when they travel, while allowing businesses to build trust by highlighting the concrete steps they are taking to keep their customers safe.”

To learn more about Tripadvisor’s Travel Safe initiative and our commitment to COVID-19 recovery, please visit: tripadvisor.com/travel-safe.

To learn more about the tourism industry’s recovery during COVID-19, visit: tripadvisor.com/Covid19WhitepaperMay2020.

*The consumer insights cited in this report were gathered and analyzed from a Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Tracking Survey, based on data drawn from an online survey of consumers, in partnership with Qualtrics, conducted approximately every two weeks from 3/27 through 5/18 across six countries worldwide.

About Tripadvisor 

Tripadvisor, the world's largest travel platform*, helps 463 million travelers each month** make every trip their best trip. Travelers across the globe use the Tripadvisor site and app to browse more than 860 million reviews and opinions of 8.7 million accommodations, restaurants, experiences, airlines and cruises. Whether planning or on a trip, travelers turn to Tripadvisor to compare low prices on hotels, flights and cruises, book popular tours and attractions, as well as reserve tables at great restaurants. Tripadvisor, the ultimate travel companion, is available in 49 markets and 28 languages.

The subsidiaries and affiliates of Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) own and operate a portfolio of websites and businesses, including the following travel media brands:

www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bokun.io, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com, and www.bookatable.co.uk), www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.housetrip.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.singleplatform.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com and www.viator.com.

* Source: Jumpshot for Tripadvisor Sites, worldwide, November 2019 

** Source: Tripadvisor internal log files, average monthly unique visitors, Q3 2019