Travel advice website TripAdvisor has acquired New York-based Citymaps, a social mapping platform that enables tourists to discover uncovered attractions and hot spots around the world. The Citymaps website and app uses webmaps to allow consumers to find points of interest, navigate urban destinations and share locations.
TripAdvisor’s branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world while the flagship TripAdvisor website offers advice from millions of travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features.
The acquisition comes as TripAdvisor stated that the importance of online mapping technology is increasingly significant in consumer usage for everyday situations, including tourism. In 2015, TripAdvisor’s “TripBarometer Connected Traveller Report” revealed that 81 percent of U.S. travellers use maps on their smartphones to find their way around.
Screenshot from the Citymaps app.
“The Citymaps team understands how people experience their day through a maps lens,” said Adam Medros, senior vice president, global product, TripAdvisor. “We are excited to welcome the team to the TripAdvisor family of brands to help TripAdvisor ensure its mapping features best address the needs of its users who are increasingly accessing the site on mobile devices.”
CEO and co-founder of Citymaps Elliot Cohen said that the social mapping platform empowers new adventures and exploration: “Over the past several years, we have built a popular mapping app that delivers socially-powered inspiration and exploration for travelers,” he said.
“Given our shared focus on helping travelers plan and experience a great trip, we look forward to working with the TripAdvisor team.”
TripAdvisor’s existing mapping features currently help consumers find, book and experience what destinations have to offer and receive millions of views per day. Citymaps will continue to be run as a standalone business, however it is expected Tripadvisor’s existing maps will be bolstered to enable all the advanced features of Citymaps.
