Singapore’s Changi Airport is the first airport to be listed on TripAdvisor, as ‘the world’s largest travel site’ launches dedicated airport pages enabling travellers around the world to get information about what to do, where to eat and where to stay at 200 major airports around the world. The site will also welcome reviewers to scrutinise duty free stores, boutiques and airport lounges.

 

TripAdvisor, an American travel website, has gained worldwide notoriety in its 15 years of existence, becoming indispensible to many travellers planning domestic or international trips. The power of the site has grown in such measure that many hoteliers, restaurateurs and bar owners feel obliged to reply and/or apologise, publically (via the site’s scrolling timeline) to scathing reviewers.

 

And although the site has been accused in the past for permitting untrustworthy reviews to be published [e.g. in the case of a hotel/restaurant member of staff reviewing his/her place of employment] the site continues to attract 340m unique monthly visitors. Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users, Q1 2015.

Now, as of June, according to the site, when travellers search for an airport on TripAdvisor, they will be directed to a dedicated airport page. This will include reviews, ratings and other information about hotels nearby as well as restaurants and attractions in both public and transit areas. Amenities including duty free stores, boutiques and airport lounges will also be listed on the page.

“Over 3.1bn travellers pass through airports each year with the average traveller spending 150 minutes of airport dwell time from arriving at the terminal to the doors of the plane closing at the gate,” said Adam Medros, Senior Vice President, Global Product, TripAdvisor.

 

“We want to help them quickly find things to do on the site while they’re waiting to catch a flight, or book an airport hotel when they need a place to stay.”

“With the launch of airport pages, not only will travellers have access to airport information at their fingertips, but businesses will also be able to market themselves directly to travellers worldwide searching on TripAdvisor,” continued Medros.

JFK AND HEATHROW TO BE LISTED IN JULY

Changi Airport is the first airport in the world with hundreds of its amenities listed on TripAdvisor. Other major airports including John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Heathrow Airport will be launched by July 2015.

 

“As the world’s most awarded airport, Changi has won many fans across the globe and we are proud to be the first airport on TripAdvisor to feature our amenities and encourage travellers to visit and review them,” said Ivan Tan, Senior Vice President for Corporate & Marketing Communications at Changi Airport Group.

 

“We believe providing useful information on what is available at the airport will help travellers make the most of their time here.”

 

TripAdvisor airport pages will be available on all 45 TripAdvisor sites and in 28 languages globally and on the TripAdvisor mobile app. Travellers will be able to use the “Near Me Now” feature on the TripAdvisor mobile app to find amenities nearby through the smartphone’s GPS when they are at the airport.

 

TripAdvisor offers advice from travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find ‘great’ hotel prices.

 

“TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 340m unique monthly visitors, and more than 225m reviews and opinions covering more than 4.9m accommodations, restaurants and attractions,” claims the site.

 

The sites operate in 45 countries worldwide. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.