TripAdvisor, which has championed consumer
hotel reviews and advertising, is on an acquisition
tear.
The Needham,
Mass.-based company said Wednesday that it acquired the Independent
Traveler, which publishes Cruise Critic.
For TripAdvisor, a
unit of Expedia Inc., the purchase of Independent Traveler is its
fifth acquisition of a travel media company in the last nine
months. Previous acquisitions included Travel Library (September
2006); TravelPod (December 2006); Smarter Travel Media (February
2007); and SeatGuru (March 2007).
Expedia Inc. didn't
disclose the purchase prices of any of the acquisitions, but did
note recently that it bought one travel-information firm in the
first quarter of this year for $41.1 million, and a 50% ownership
interest in another on March 30 for $26 million in cash.
Brian Payea, a
TripAdvisor spokesman, said the purchase of Cruise Critic will
enable TripAdvisor to expand its content and advertising in the
cruise segment.
"We've had limited
information on cruises up until now," Payea said.
He said TripAdvisor
was not ready to discuss any plans regarding integrating the
content.
"There are no
near-term plans for extensive integration of the business or the
Web domains and no staffing changes are expected," TripAdvisor said
in a statement. The company added that Kathleen Tucker will
continue to head the Independent Traveler.
Founded in 1990, the
Independent Traveler operates a string of travel-information Web
sites and is headquartered in Pennington, N.J. Its Cruise Critic
site, at www.cruisecritic.com, offers cruise news, reviews and
advertising.
To
contact reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].