TripAdvisor Offers Instant Booking On App And Website - Analyst Blog

TripAdvisor Inc. TRIP, the world's largest online travel research company, has recently announced that it will offer instant booking on its mobile app and the mobile version of its website.

The new instant booking feature allows travelers to book a hotel through TripAdvisor's booking partners on TripAdvisor's mobile site or apps.

Instant booking is currently available in the U.S. and will reach other markets later this year. Currently, very few partners are offering instant such as, Choice Hotels, Getaroom.com and TripAdvisor's own Tingo. However, the company expects to involve more partners by year-end.

Nowadays, smartphones are increasingly being used along with laptops and tablets for travel booking. In order to cash in on this opportunity, TripAdvisor is constantly updating its mobile features. Over the last 12 months, TripAdvisor's mobile traffic has increased at a healthy rate.

These initiatives will help TripAdvisor to grow its user base as well as increase its conversion rates as users are now more likely to click on the advertiser's link for booking rather than just for gathering information.

TripAdvisor has built a strong portfolio through these new features, continuous product upgrades, expansion into international restaurant reservation space and strategic acquisitions. These have also increased page views per visitor since users now spend more time on its website. The company is making all efforts to help consumers make their travel decisions easy and expand its revenue base.

TripAdvisor continues to witness robust top-line growth in every quarter. The company delivered a decent first quarter, with earnings beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate on the back of improved global travel market. Revenues were $281.0 million, up 22.2% year over year, driven by improvement in all its product lines and continued strong hotel shopper growth.

Over the long term, TripAdvisor is well positioned to grow, given its expanding user base, improving margins and increasing monetization of social and mobile platforms.

Currently, TripAdvisor has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Other stocks that are performing well at the current levels include Move Inc. MOVE, China Distance DL and Brightcove, Inc. BCOV. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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