22 May 2007: Consumer generated reviews from the TripAdvisor website are to be included on the hotel pages of Expedia.co.uk by the end of 2007.
Caroline Cartellieri, managing director and vice president of Expedia in the UK, told Travolution the partnership would begin this year after coming to an agreement with Expedia Inc sister-company TripAdvisor.
Expedia chief executive Dermot Halpin admitted last September that the online travel agency would like to incorporate content from TripAdvisor into its pages, but talks are understood to have stalled during the intervening period.
At the time “technology integration issues” were cited by Expedia as to why the two sites had not so far joined forces. However it is believed that Expedia Inc decided to hand negotiations between companies to a local level.
Since then a number of markets have now started to include TripAdvisor content, such as Expedia sites in Australia and Canada.
TripAdvisor content on the Expedia UK site will be clearly marked to ensure it is not confused with existing consumer reviews, Cartellieri said.
