TRIPADVISOR CELEBRATES TOP PERFORMING HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES WITH 2013 CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE

Certificate of Excellence recipients represent top 10 per cent of businesses listed on World’s Largest Travel site

TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced the 2013 Certificate of Excellence award recipients. Now in its third year, the award celebrates hospitality excellence and is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor. Winners of the Certificate of Excellence are located all over the world and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on the website, with only the top 10 per cent receiving the prestigious award.

The Certificate of Excellence award is given to outstanding hospitality businesses that have received praise and recognition in reviews by TripAdvisor travellers. Winners of the award range from one-room bed & breakfasts to 6000-room hotels, from bakeries to Michelin star restaurants and hidden attractions to world-renowned parks and museums.

“We’re delighted to celebrate the success of hospitality businesses around the world, from Auckland to San Francisco, Hong Kong to Paris, which are consistently offering travellers an outstanding customer experience,” said Stephen Kaufer, President and CEO, TripAdvisor. “The Certificate of Excellence award provides top performing establishments the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers.”

Winning properties from Albania (22 winners) to Zimbabwe (42 winners) can showcase their success a number of ways, including displaying the Certificate of Excellence they receive in the coming weeks, uploading the award to their own website or by promoting the achievement to local media with a press release. Last year’s winners promoted their award to great advantage through social media, highlighting their success on Twitter and on their business’s Facebook page, as well as notifying past guests and customers of their win, thereby encouraging repeat visits!

TripAdvisor provides access to promotional services and tips for successful PR campaigns through the Management Centre.

“We are delighted that a number of our hotels in India have received the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence,” said Shalini Rao, Marketing Director at Taj Group. "Each of our properties strives to tailor products and services to ensure the most memorable experience for our guests. TripAdvisor awards reflect the opinions of our guests and are evidence that our effort is translating into positive reviews. We would like to thank our guests for their continuous support.”

To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travellers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months.

The Certificate of Excellence program does not replace the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice® Awards, but is an extension of TripAdvisor’s recognition of highly rated businesses, as reviewed by travellers on the world’s largest travel site.

For more information and materials on the Certificate of Excellence program, as well as other resources to help businesses engage with travellers, please visit the TripAdvisor Management Centre at http://www.tripadvisor.in/Owners