Online travel is the “King of Traffic” and its difficulties are getting worse.

The recently released financial report for the first quarter of 2021 by the review giant Tripadvisor (Chinese name TripAdvisor) shows its decline。Total revenue in the first quarter is 1.USD 2.3 billion，Down 56% year-on-year；Quarterly net loss of $80 million，More losses than last year’s fourth quarter。Although its user base is far ahead，But Tripadvisor’s booking business and traffic monetization are not ideal。

Recently，Ctrip sold 1% of TripAdvisor’s total issued shares，Magnifying its dilemma again。

Ten years ago，TripAdvisor has become the world’s largest travel website with its huge user traffic and review content；Today，Advertising revenue models with metasearch and clicks as revenue sources have sluggish growth。When it tries to transform into a hotel booking platform，But suffered a disaster，Its market value has also increased from its peak of US$15.1 billion in 2014，All the way down to 59.US$4.9 billion，Total revenue and net profit are declining year by year......

Acquisition wave from travel giants、To seize the Chinese market、Second to seize the mobile Internet dividend，Tripadvisor never misses every turning point in the online travel market，Everything that needs to be done has been done，Is the former “King of Traffic” still inevitable to be abandoned by the times?？

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Early 1990s，The popularity of commercial Internet has laid the foundation for the development of online tourism，U.S. Internet penetration rate increased from 43% in 2000.1% increased to 88 in 2016.5%，Tourists begin to use the Internet to obtain travel information。

2000，TripAdvisor was born in the United States riding on the dividends of the PC era，Its emergence provides tourists with a new decision-making platform，TripAdvisor has a share of the online travel market that is changing from "supplier-centric" to "customer-centric"，Massive and practical reviews and strategies are the key to Tripadvisor’s success。

TripAdvisor essentially serves as an online travel UGC (user-generated content) platform，By building community、Points and complete virtual badge incentive system，Stimulate users to produce content。Travelers write reviews about the hotel for free、Restaurant、Real reviews of the destination，Or recommend the most unique local dining and accommodation，These contents are of reference value for travelers who are about to travel，Covering user decisions before traveling and while playing、Sharing and evaluation after playing。

A TripAdvisor survey showed，About 77% of the respondents said that before booking a hotel，Will refer to TripAdvisor reviews。

TripAdvisor started by providing travel review services，Then he entered the hotel booking market through metasearch，Provide hotel popularity index、Hotel price comparison search、Hotel, restaurant, travel activity booking and other services。

“Reputation economy” is the underlying logic for TripAdvisor to make money: a large number of hotel reviews make Tripadvisor a traffic portal，Complete traffic monetization through advertising，Includes pay-per-click revenue，Display advertising revenue and listserv advertising revenue。According to its financial report，The average annual net profit margin before listing was more than 30%，Continuous annual growth of more than 50% since 2009。

When launched in 2011，TripAdvisor reaches its first high point: total market value of US$3.5 billion，More than Expedia’s 33.USD 700 million market value，Received US$4 million in financing。The average number of unique visitors per month reaches 50 million，According to the data of the world’s top 1000 websites released by Google that year，50 million is the level that can be ranked among the top 50 in the world。60 million reviews covering 550,000 hotels，900,000 restaurants and attractions；The average number of new user comments per minute exceeds 40；The TripAdvisor brand and its websites cover 30 countries；

With frequent operations in the capital market、Acquisition，TripAdvisor reaches new highs。

June 2014，TripAdvisor market value soars to $15.1 billion，Market value tripled in 3 years。The market value of Priceline, the world’s largest online travel company at that time, was US$31.5 billion，Expedia approximately US$9 billion。According to incomplete statistics，It made a total of 16 acquisitions from 2012 to 2016，Involving restaurant reservations、Vacation Rental、Travel activity booking and other fields，Develop diversified sources of income besides hotels。 

However, the market value of US$15.1 billion is actually the highest point of TripAdvisor’s “career”，It will be difficult to reach the top again。

TripAdvisor 2017 financial report display，The average number of unique visitors per month is 4.5.5 billion，After becoming the “King of Traffic” among online travel companies，Although traffic is growing，TripAdvisor is in trouble with profitability。

Since TripAdvisor implemented its transformation strategy with great fanfare in 2014，The market value has dropped all the way to the current 59.US$4.9 billion。

2016，Hotel business revenue, which accounts for 80% of total revenue, fell for the first time，Down 6% year-on-year，Total revenue decreased by 0.8%。In 2017, hotel business revenue increased by only 1% year-on-year，2018、Hotel business revenue in 2019 decreased by 8% year-on-year。

Entering the Chinese market has been tepid for 11 years，It is also one of the typical manifestations of Tripadvisor’s current situation。

Before and after listing on Tripadvisor，This is also the stage when China’s outbound tourism market is releasing dividends，Attracting international tourism giants to come all the way to hunt for gold，Priceline invests 188bet app download in Ctrip、Meituan、Didi expands its territory，Booking.com established a localized Chinese team in 2010，Expedia increases its stake in eLong......

TripAdvisor is following closely，I also want a share of the pie。

2009，TripAdvisor launches Chinese travel review website TripAdvisor in China，The general manager reports directly to TripAdvisor CEO，It can be seen that TripAdvisor has high hopes for its business in the Chinese market。

But at that time, Chinese people’s demand for outbound travel was not as strong and widespread as it is now，The high-quality outbound travel content of TripAdvisor is of little value to Chinese people；Ineffective advertising promotion is also a hindrance to development，TripAdvisor failed to gain popularity in China。

After rebranding as "TripAdvisor" in 2015 and making a comeback，Intensify marketing promotion，Launching Chinese mobile app and website at the same time。At this time, as the economic strength of Chinese tourists increases、Changes in travel habits、and the popularity of smartphones，The large amount of international travel experience provided by TripAdvisor can meet the needs of in-depth independent travelers。

In the scene of preparing information before leaving the country，Mafengwo, a local competitor in the UGC field、Qionyou.com and other popular destination content；TripAdvisor for long distances、Niche、Exploratory global destinations have more advantages。

From the perspective of business model，TripAdvisor has no e-commerce business in China，Driving traffic through content，And work with partners to monetize traffic。

TripAdvisor financial report display，More than 90% of its revenue in China comes from selling advertising，A single revenue method increases the risks it faces: on the one hand，It is difficult for content websites to increase monetization by raising the unit price per customer；On the other hand，Fierce competition at the top of China’s online travel market，A pure content or transaction platform is no longer a good track。

When TripAdvisor also focused its strategy on expanding traffic levels、The stage of increasing the number of users，Its rival Mafengwo is already speeding up the creation of a “content + transaction” closed loop。

And because the audience is relatively small，Add hornet’s nest、Dianping、There is fierce competition from local players such as Qyer.com，Tik Tok、Xiaohongshu and other new players are squeezing，It is difficult for TripAdvisor to cultivate user habits，There has been little success in the 11 years since entering the Chinese market。So far in TripAdvisor’s financial report data，Part of the data in the Chinese market is still due to too little revenue，Not enough to be incorporated as an independent item into "other income"。

The situation in the Chinese market is becoming increasingly embarrassing，TripAdvisor “huggers” at the end of 2019，Reached strategic cooperation with Ctrip，Contains the establishment of a joint venture、Enter global content agreement and corporate governance agreement，Ctrip’s brands can share TripAdvisor content。

Originally, TripAdvisor regarded this as a solid move to seize the Chinese market。TripAdvisor as a front-end grass planting and drainage platform，Ctrip, as a strong e-commerce platform, is responsible for pulling weeds，The cooperation between the two may promote TripAdvisor's transformation from UGC to PGC、Adding fire to the transformation from information platform to content + e-commerce trading platform，But the joint venture between the two encountered the epidemic as soon as it was established，No business started yet。

The TripAdvisor App was removed from the shelves at the end of 2020, which made matters worse。Currently the official website of TripAdvisor China is temporarily suspended、The hotel booking function of the WeChat official account jumps directly to Ctrip，When domestic leading travel companies accelerate their efforts to seize private domain traffic，TripAdvisor seems to be lagging behind。

Did the transformation go wrong?

Tripadvisor’s performance decline after reaching its peak in 2014，Directly related to its failure to transform into a hotel booking platform。

Enter 2014，Changes in the global online travel market，The giants are expanding like crazy in order to stabilize their positions，Big boss layout、New players join to seize market share，Tripadvisor faces more direct or indirect threats。

Overseas markets，Priceline has completed global expansion，To the ticket、Hotel、Car rental、Vacation products and other vertical ecological mergers and acquisitions，The stock price continues to rise，Expedia leads a series of large acquisitions，Airbnb’s skyrocketing valuation divides the housing rental market。

Chinese Internet giant BAT has successively entered the online travel market。For BAT，Online travel is not just a “big cake”，It is also the entrance to its O2O layout。While Alibaba built its own Taobao Travel，Invested in “On the Road”、“Qionyou” and many other online travel websites，Tencent enters Tongcheng and eLong through equity，Baidu directly controls “Qunar”。 

Facing the ever-changing market landscape、Anxiety about declining performance，Tripadvisor needs to find new growth poles and competitiveness，Consolidating the status of “the world’s largest travel website”。

In front of Tripadvisor，Convert traffic into transactions，Seems like a good business。

In 2014, TripAdvisor selected the U.S. market as its preferred market to launch instant booking program，Later, it will be gradually promoted to the global market。This is regarded as a key step in its transformation of the hotel booking platform。This transformation is a matter of life and death，If instant booking is successful，Represents the successful transformation of the trading platform。

Before transformation，Tripadvisor’s profit model relies on content to attract visitors，Redirect customers to make reservations through TripAdvisor’s advertising links and navigate to OTA or hotel websites，and divided into；The hotel booking platform allows users to place orders directly on Tripadvisor after browsing the content，188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino Build a closed-loop trading platform。

Can the transformation of hotel booking platform be successful，It roughly involves three key factors: a complete supply chain means sufficient housing supply、Competitive price、User awareness。

TripAdvisor said，Instant booking pay-per-click revenue in the United States、Some progress in transaction revenue and revenue per hotel booking，Outside the United States，These major indicators have suffered heavy losses。TripAdvisor revenue per hotel booking fell 12% year-on-year in 2016。In the following three years，Instant bookings have not played a significant role in increasing bookings。

First，Comments + two contradictory logics when booking itself。TripAdvisor always advertises the objectivity and impartiality of its reviews，If TripAdvisor refuses to control the review，Whether the hotel has negative reviews on the platform it cooperates with？

Second，Instant bookings charge lower commissions than previous metasearch。Under meta search function，Hotels need to pay to get a place in TripAdvisor searches，Expand the influence of the hotel。But under the instant booking function，The relationship between supply and demand has changed，TripAdvisor wants to use low commissions to attract more hotel resources，Fighting OTA。This will also adversely affect TripAdvisor’s advertising revenue，For some hotels, we can cooperate if the price is low，Why advertise at high prices？

Third，The main problem is that the user’s mentality and behavior cannot be changed，Users are not very aware of TripAdvisor’s new feature of booking，TripAdvisor’s service is mainly regarded as a review tool、Search and price comparison platform before booking，The booking process is completed through OTA or independent hotel official website。

The transformation of the hotel booking platform has come to an end with TripAdvisor abandoning the instant booking plan in 2017，TripAdvisor returns to metasearch。

Refuse to "lie down"

Boosted by the progress of vaccination and the recovery trend of leisure tourism，The number of unique visitors to the Tripadvisor website from January to March is improving month by month，Their financial reports show that they have recovered to 53% of the same period in 2019 (about 400 million passengers)、56% and 58%。

Tripadvisor quotes third-party statistics from SimilarWeb，Proclaims itself to be the travel website with the largest independent user traffic。

Although user traffic is far ahead，But Tripadvisor’s booking business and traffic monetization capabilities are not ideal，It’s an “old injury” that Tripadvisor has never resolved。Higher traffic，Cannot be converted effectively，Also in vain。

First quarter of 2021，Tripadvisor hotel/media/platform revenue of $88 million，Reduced by 48% year-on-year。

TripAdvisor once noted the huge profits in restaurant and attraction reservation business，Trying to ease anxiety caused by declining hotel business。Long-term investment to acquire restaurants、Attractions、Companies in non-standard accommodation and other non-hotel fields，This part of the business has 188bet online sports betting been growing year after year before the epidemic。

TripAdvisor acquires a large number of European restaurant reservation websites，Established Europe’s leadership in online restaurant reservations。In the field of tourist attractions，TripAdvisor completed its largest acquisition in 2014 for US$200 million - Viator, a local travel and activity product booking provider。Viator covers more than 20,000 bookable travel products in 1,500 destinations，This will undoubtedly help TripAdvisor supplement the booking process for day tours and activity products。Most of TripAdvisor’s rental business was inherited from the acquisition of FlipKey in 2008，Significant seasonal revenue decline in rental business offsets long-term advantages of experiences and restaurants。

But the growth of non-hotel business cannot make up for the decline in hotel revenue，The first quarter of this year also suffered an even more exaggerated decline than the hotel business。TripAdvisor financial report display，Experience/catering business revenue in the first quarter of 2021 is US$28 million，Reduced 66% year-on-year。

Old problems have not yet been resolved, and new problems have arisen.

TripAdvisor layoffs affected more than 900 employees during the epidemic，Most of them are located in the United States and Canada，And permanently closed its San Francisco and downtown Boston offices。

Tripadvisor 2021 first quarter financial report display，Total revenue for the quarter is 1.USD 2.3 billion，Down 56% year-on-year；Quarterly net loss of $80 million，More losses than last year’s fourth quarter。

Obviously there is not much time left for Tripadvisor to turn around in the online travel market。The solution Tripadvisor came up with this time is: to resume the unfinished transformation in 2017。

It places its hopes on the new business launched during the epidemic--Tripadvisor Plus membership plan，And hope to successfully transform into a "content + transaction" website this time，Solution to its high traffic、Low conversion、The problem of difficulty in realizing cash。

This plan is similar to Amazon Prime，Users pay an annual membership fee of US$99，Get hotel discount、Room upgrade、Destination offers and perks like access to exclusive experiences and bookings make the subscription a steal，Hope to attract more users to book。

Tripadvisor’s preferential conditions for hotels are lower than other channels、Even zero commission，TripAdvisor mainly earns membership fees，Hotel owners can also reach out to potential high-end tourists。

But unfortunately，This business will inevitably collide head-on with Expedia，Expedia has also stepped up efforts to build its own membership system，And attract new users to join as members for free，Provides benefits similar to Tripadvisor Plus，There is indeed a question mark as to whether Tripadvisor has the winning ticket。