MGM3115 Report: Analyzing TripAdvisor's Creative Organization

This report provides an in-depth analysis of TripAdvisor as a creative organization within the hospitality industry. It examines the company's background, founded by Stephen Kaufer, and its growth into a leading travel platform with over 500 million users and reviews of over 8 million destinations. The report delves into TripAdvisor's creative processes, highlighting its solution to the problem of accessing authentic travel information through crowdsourced reviews and the effective use of the internet as a communication medium. It also discusses the company's valuation, its innovative product features, and how it has successfully met the travel information needs of a global audience. The assignment fulfills the requirements of a report, presenting a comprehensive overview of TripAdvisor's innovative strategies, its impact on the hospitality sector, and the factors contributing to its success, including its reliance on user-generated content and technological advancements.

Running Head: Creative Organisations in the Hospitality Industry: TripAdvisor 1
Creative Organisations in the Hospitality Industry: TripAdvisor
Name
Institution Affiliation

Creative Organisations in the Hospitality Industry: TripAdvisor 2
Executive Summary
Creative organisations are those that generate solutions to challenges through innovation.
TripAdvisor is an example of such an organisation. Founded by its CEO, Stephen Kafeur,
TripAdvisor has grown over the years to become a leading travel platform. The company’s
mission is to assist individuals in making their travel plans. Therefore, it specialises in providing
authentic travel information to its global users. It achieves this by crowdsourcing travel reviews
online. TripAdvisor’s venture has been so successful such that the firm has acquired over 500
million users globally. Additionally, the platform has reviews of over 8 million destinations all
across the globe. Following this success, the company has grown financially, with its revenue
hitting $7 billion in the year 2018. Thus, this indicates the benefits that firms can acquire if they
embraced creativity and innovation.

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Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Company Background..................................................................................................................................4
Company Founder...................................................................................................................................5
Valuation.................................................................................................................................................5
Creative Processes Behind TripAdvisor........................................................................................................6
Problem TripAdvisor is designed to solve................................................................................................6
How TripAdvisor solved the problem......................................................................................................7
Sources of Information........................................................................................................................7
Medium of Communication.................................................................................................................8
What makes TripAdvisor a genuinely innovative product.......................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10

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Creative Organisations in the Hospitality Industry
Introduction
Proctor (2014) identifies creative thinking as a critical strategy in providing solutions to
the world. The main reason is that creative thinking allows individuals to critically examine
problems and challenge fundamental issues, thus arriving at a practical solution. Creative
organizations are those that utilise innovation to develop new solutions to its consumers. One
such organisation is TripAdvisor. Over the years, TripAdvisor has emerged to become the
world’s leading online platform for travel. As stated in its mission, TripAdvisor’s primary role is
to assist individuals all across the globe to plan their travel and also to have the perfect trip
(TripAdvisor, 2019). So, how does TripAdvisor achieve this mission? As TripAdvisor (2019)
points, TripAdvisor helps individuals in their travel plans by aggregating multiple opinions and
reviews of people about accommodations, destinations, restaurant establishments, and various
activities all across the globe. Therefore, during the planning stage of their travel, individuals can
know what to expect about a particular destination or accommodation by reading other people’s
reviews about them. This paper will therefore review TripAdvisor’s creative processes.
Company Background
TripAdvisor was founded in 2000 by its president and CEO, Stephen Kaufer, and it has
been fulfilling its noble mission ever since. Currently, the company helps over 490 million users
monthly in their travel plans. There are over 795 million reviews on the platform which cover
about 8.4 million travel experiences, destinations, airlines, cruises, and accommodation facilities.
These destinations are spread across almost all regions in the globe. Therefore, users can
practically access information on any travel destination in the world. Notably, this information is

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varied as it extends to multiple elements regarding the destination such as the experience,
available accommodation options, transport network, available cuisines, and many more. Thus,
this makes TripAdvisor one of the most effective travel information platform.
Company Founder
As earlier stated, TripAdvisor was founded by its current CEO and co-president, Stephen
Kaufer. Stephen’s primary motivation to start TripAdvisor is based on his travel experience back
in 1999. In his admission, most of the information available to him was the marketing materials
issues to him by travel agents (Lanthier, 2019). However, Stephen was more determined to find
more authentic information from real people before making his booking decisions. In the end,
Kaufer accessed an internet blog that provided much more trustworthy information. It is this
experience that prompted him to think of a business idea that would provide more authentic
travel information. Consequently, that was how TripAdvisor was founded.
Valuation
TripAdvisor has grown over the years to attain a valuation of $7 billion by the year 2018.
Also, the company’s yearly revenue has been steadily increasing. For example, as Team (2018)
points, the company made a revenue of over $1.5 billion in the year 2018. Thus, this shows the
tremendous growth that the company has experienced, considering that it started as a simple
website. However, it is worth noting that the company’s success can also be attributed to two key
fundings. The first funding phase was in 2004 when Kaufer sold the firm to InterActive
Corporation for $210 million. However, he remained a CEO at the company. The second funding
phase was in 2011 when the firm made its IPO with a valuation of $4 billion. Notably, the firm’s
revenue and valuation have experienced steady growth, thus showing the enormous potential that
TripAdvisor carries.

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Creative Processes Behind TripAdvisor
Problem TripAdvisor is designed to solve
A look at Trip Advisor’s core concept shows significant evidence of creative thinking
application. As Proctor (2014) identifies, at the heart of any creative process is a problem or
challenge. The creative process is the means to which a solution to the challenge is provided. For
TripAdvisor’s instance, the main challenge that the firm solves is in regards to the availability
and access to authentic travel information. Travel Information has always been a vital need for
travellers. As Kinstler (2018) points, the need for information among travellers dates back to
ancient times. Individuals have always wanted to know where they are going and what to expect
in their new destination.
According to Cantoni & Xiang (2013), travellers have two essential information needs.
The first need is referred to as functional informational. This type of information encompasses
the fundamental needs that travellers require to have smooth travel experience. It includes
information regarding aspects such as available modes of transport, navigation, and how to
access a particular location, accommodation options, prices, weather, and many more.
Information needs further extend to social and hedonic information needs. This type of
information is related to the overall experience a particular destination offers. Customers want to
know whether a specific destination guarantees a pleasant and exciting experience that they
crave (Wang & Pizam, 2011). Notably, these two information needs are essential in facilitating
their decision making during their tourism endeavours.

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How TripAdvisor solves the problem.
Upon recognizing travellers' need for trustworthy information, TripAdvisor founder,
Stephen Kaufer sought to solve the problem in two essential ways. First, was to identify and
incorporate credible and useful sources of information that would provide users with the
authentic information they needed. The second approach was to find an appropriate medium to
relay this information.
Sources of Information
As earlier stated, a significant challenge for TripAdvisor during its formative years was to
establish competent and credible sources of information. Initially, the company depended on
expert reviews. Thus, as Kinstler (2018) identifies, the platform would only aggregate reviews
from guidebooks and established sources only. The rationale here was that individuals needed
information sources that they could trust. However, the real breakthrough for TripAdvisor
happened in 2001 when the firm experimented on customer reviews on the platform. The
discovery as per Kinstler (2018), was that users appreciated original customers input compared
to expert reviews. Therefore, the firm shifted from an expert to a crowdsourced reviews
approach. Notably, this action fits Lubart (2018) 's assertion that creative thinking entails
critiquing the existing fundamentals and generating new solutions and possibilities.
The primary reason as to why the crowdsourced reviews approach worked is because it
utilizes the concept of Word of Mouth marketing. As Naz (2014) points, more than before,
consumers now need product evaluations that are honest, dependable, and positive. The main
reason is that the stiff competition between firms offering various products has led to consumers
facing multiple and conflicting information regarding products and services. Notably, it is this

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challenge that led to Kafeur starting up TripAdvisor. Therefore, word of mouth advertising such
as TripAdvisor's crowdsourced reviews becomes vital in assisting users in accessing trustworthy
and honest product evaluations. This is because such customer reviews are given freely by
consumers based on their experience with the product (East, Uncles, Romaniuk & Lomax, 2016).
Therefore, users value such type of product feedback compared to paid adverts which are mainly
designed to sway a customer's decision towards a particular product.
Medium of Communication
As earlier stated, TripAdvisor is an online-based platform. Therefore, travel information
is primarily relayed through TripAdvisor’s website brands and mobile applications. According to
Stafford & Faber (2015), the internet has emerged as a revolutionary communication technology
that has brought a new dimension to communication. A noticeable feature of the internet is that it
enables access to a broad global audience. The main reason is that internet connectivity is present
in almost all regions in the globe. Another feature brought by the internet is interactivity.
Stafford & Faber (2015) defines interactivity as the ability of individuals and organizations to
communicate regardless of the time and distance between them. This feature has been
significantly crucial to TripAdvisor because it allows users to give their reviews on their travel
experiences from all across the globe. Thus, this explains why TripAdvisor has aggregated
numerous reviews on multiple travel locations from all around the world. Additionally,
TripAdvisor utilizes other digital tools such as algorithms which generate ratings based on
customer reviews. Thus, this helps users to evaluate the various travel products quickly.

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What makes TripAdvisor a genuinely innovative product
The aspect that makes TripAdvisor a genuinely innovative product is on how effectively
it solves the problem that it was designed to address. TripAdvisor avails the travel information
that consumers need effectively and most importantly, to a vast global audience. The platform’s
primary source of information is customer reviews. Thus users can trust and depend on the
information. Notably, this information is obtained for free since users give their evaluations
regarding various travel products willingly. Additionally, the use of algorithms properly
organizes the data into a rating system, thus making it easier to interpret for users. The utilization
of the internet enables TripAdvisor to access a global audience, and most importantly, obtain
travel destination reviews from a worldwide audience. In this way, TripAdvisor has been able to
fulfil travel information needs on a global scope.
Conclusion
In conclusion, TripAdvisor is a creative organisation. The company utilises innovation to
deliver solutions to its global users. Led by its CEO, Stephen Kaufer, the firm primarily
specialises in enabling access to authentic travel information among its users. The company does
this by blending crowdsourced reviews and the power of the internet. In this way, the firm
generates and avails useful information to a globally based travel audience.

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References
Cantoni, L., & Xiang, Z. (2013). Information and communication technologies in tourism 2013.
Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
East, R., Uncles, M., Romaniuk, J., & Lomax, W. (2016). Measuring the impact of positive and
negative word of mouth: A reappraisal. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 24(1),
54-58. doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2015.12.003
Kinstler, L. (2018). How TripAdvisor changed travel. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/17/how-tripadvisor-changed-travel
Lanthier, K. (2019). TripAdvisor's Stephen Kaufer on Shifting from Founder to CEO · Babson
Thought & Action. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
https://entrepreneurship.babson.edu/tripadvisors-stephen-kaufer-on-shifting-from-
founder-to-ceo/
Lubart, T. (2018). The creative process: Perspectives from Multiple Domains. Springer.
Naz, F. (2014). Word of Mouth and Its Impact on Marketing. International Journal Of Scientific
And Research Publications, 4(1).
Proctor, T. (2014). Creative Problem Solving for Managers: Developing Skills for Decision
Making and Innovation. Routledge.
Stafford, M., & Faber, R. (2015). Advertising, promotion, and new media. Routledge.

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Team, T. (2018). Is TripAdvisor Fairly Valued?. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/12/14/is-tripadvisor-fairly-valued/
#5667fd64172d
TripAdvisor. (2019). TripAdvisor: Read Reviews, Compare Prices & Book. Retrieved 21
September 2019, from https://www.tripadvisor.com/?fid=847218dc-5082-4720-9e4e-
3d2ea2c5a21d
TripAdvisor. (2019). US Press Center | About TripAdvisor. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
https://tripadvisor.mediaroom.com/us-about-us
Wang, Y., & Pizam, A. (2011). Tourism Destination Marketing and Management: Collaborative
Strategies. CABI.