TripAdvisor has offered a Facebook Log-In option for some time now. But today, Facebook announced that they’ve partnered with TripAdvisor to help you connect with friends, either to keep up with their jet-setting or to plan new travel adventures together.
When you visit TripAdvisor while logged into Facebook, the site will act like your “personalized travel planner, complete with friends’ reviews, a map showing places friends have visited, and a list of their most popular destinations.”
For example, when you search for a location, hotel or restaurant within TripAdvisor, you’ll see Facebook friends’ reviews first (on the right hand side in the photo above), as opposed to a sea of random reviews. TripAdvisor is what Facebook calls a “new instant personalization partner” as the site becomes customized for you by using your public information and list of friends from Facebook for more curated and personalized information. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Facebook enter the travel space. In July, they acquired travel start-up NextStop, but we haven’t seen them do much with it yet.
In related news, yesterday, TripAdvisor announced the launch of its new (free) iPad app so you can browse your Facebook friend’s reviews on the go. The app allows travelers to search for popular hotels, restaurants and attractions, as well as find the cheapest flights, from their iPad. In addition, the app features a map-based browsing experience, allowing travelers to see traveler reviews for hotels, restaurants and attractions and quickly get the lay of the land in their travel destinations. If travelers want to scope out other points of interest at their destination, they can simply move the map with the slide of a finger and refresh the results with a one-click map-based search. The app is available in 18 languages and 26 countries around the world.
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