NEW YORK, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Oyster.com,
the hotel tell-all known for its independent and unbiased expert
hotel reviews, today announced that it has published content for
more than 10,000 hotels across 76 countries and six continents. The
site, which launched in June 2009
with just 250 hotels, has added upwards of 7,000 properties since
it was acquired by TripAdvisor, Inc., less than a year and a half
ago.
"The rapid growth Oyster has had since it joined the TripAdvisor
family is exciting," says Adam
Medros, Senior Vice President of Global Product for
TripAdvisor. "With the integration of Oyster photos on TripAdvisor
under 'Expert Photos,' our millions of monthly travelers have
access to the insights they need when planning and booking their
trips."
Oyster Investigators Visit, Photograph and Rate Each
Hotel
Oyster employs a massive global network of investigators who
visit, photograph, review and rate each hotel. At least 50 of its
trained experts are out in the field on any given day. "A core
principle since our founding has been to show and tell people what
their hotel is going to be like before they get there. Our goal is
to find them just the right property for their needs. With more
than 10,000 hotels, 3.6 million unique photos and our expert
reviews, travelers have the information they need at their
fingertips," says Oyster Cofounder and General Manager Eytan Seidman.
New Panoramic HDR Images Provide Enhanced Perspective on
Hotels
In addition to publishing its 10,000th hotel, Oyster
has launched several significant enhancements in recent months.
Most notable is its new panoramic imagery through the use of High
Dynamic Range (HDR) photography and fish-eye lenses. Currently
available for 2,800 properties, such as the Villa Marbella Suites
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, these new panoramas allow consumers to
more accurately perceive numerous spaces throughout a hotel,
including guest rooms, the lobby, pools, beaches and more. They
will complement the robust still imagery on the site.
About Oyster
Oyster.com, The Hotel Tell-All, is the Web's hotel truth serum.
Its mission is to deliver unbiased, expert information about hotels
and make it easy to discover the perfect destination. Oyster sends
trained experts to visit, comprehensively photograph, critique and
rate each hotel reviewed on Oyster. Featured on and in hundreds of
media outlets, including The Today Show, 20/20, the
Wall Street Journal, the New York
Times, The Economist and many more, Oyster's
hotel experts visit each property in person and take hundreds of
honest photos so that travelers know what to really expect when
they arrive. There are in-depth reviews of 10,000 hotels in
hundreds of cities, including New York City hotels, Miami hotels
and London hotels, with more than 1,000 hotels added every
month. Oyster.com was founded in 2008, launched in 2009 and is
currently a part of TripAdvisor, Inc.
About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site*,
enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor
offers trusted advice from travelers and a wide variety of travel
choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools
that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices.
TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in
the world, reaching 315 million unique monthly visitors**, and more
than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.4
million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites
operate in 45 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also
includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that
provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly
TripAdvisor visitors.
TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites
under 24 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com,
www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com,
www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com
(including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com and
www.iens.nl), www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk,
www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com,
www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com,
www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com,
www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com,
www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.viator.com,
www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn.
*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide,
December 2014
**Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users,
Q3 2014; does not include traffic to daodao.com
Related Links
Oyster.com
Oyster Twitter
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SOURCE Oyster