The new owners of TravelPost introduced Travel Discussions in a private beta as a means of building a dynamic community and learning more about what the site's users want.
Once users sign into Travel Discussions via Facebook Connect, they can initiate discussions, follow ongoing conversations and write hotel reviews.
For example, TravelPost CEO Greg Slyngstad initiated a discussion asking for recommendations on what to do in Las Vegas during an upcoming trip, and Ambika Singh, TravelPost's product marketing director, wonders in another discussion whether it's "best to surf on the east or west coast of Costa Rica."
Simon Breakwell, TravelPost's chief operating officer, says in the next few days the company will be releasing code for the beta so users will be able to follow their Facebook friends in Travel Discussions and see what they've posted, too.
"We are proud of what we've done," Breakwell says, emphasizing that Travel Discussions is not the "new" TravelPost that the collection of ex-Expedians has been working on. "We've done it pretty quickly and it's elegant."
Among the features, a My Profile Tab provides an overview of discussions you're interested in, and a Notifications feature enables users to receive notifications of discussions they are following.
Travel Discussions users can write hotel reviews -- they won't appear on the public website until later -- and they will also be able to send direct messages to their friends.
When users follow a particular discussion, about Maui, for instance, TravelPost will also surface relevant discussions such as one about Hawaii's Big Island.
Breakwell says the TravelPost team is focusing hard on the new business they hope to roll out, but the company rolled out Travel Discussions in the interim because "it is important to satisfy the needs of the members of the existing business."
TravelPost currently has more than 100,000 members, and Travel Discussions should add plenty of new users to the mix.
The beta will be extended to the expanse of TravelPost users by the end of July, Breakwell says.
Travel Discussions was rolled out to family and friends about two days ago, Breakwell says, and it already features some 300 discussions.
TravelPost previously did not offer any forums so Travel Discussions is a way to engage the community, Breakwell says.
When current TravelPost management acquired the company from Kayak several months ago, they received user e-mails noting that there was no way to start discussions on the site.
TripAdvisor, the leading hotel review website, has taken a somewhat different approach to community building, as it launched Trip Friends, which leverages the Facebook community and TripAdvisor's Cities I've Visited application.