TripAdvisor
is offering a Wi-Fi subscription service for restaurants to help them collect
more reviews and build their email marketing databases.
Any of the site’s
more than four million restaurants can now sign up for TripAdvisor Wi-Fi Plus, enabling
them to offer free Wi-Fi to their diners through a branded network.
To access
the service, diners provide either their email or a social media credential.
After leaving the restaurant, the system sends the guest a reminder to leave a
review, and the restaurant can also maintain communication, for example to send individual
messages or automated campaigns.
When asked
if TripAdvisor may extend this offering to additional categories, such as tour
and activity suppliers, Evan Becker, head of key accounts for restaurants,
says, “The agreement that we have set up with our vendor today, a company
called Captini, is not exclusive to our restaurants product line.
"There are
certainly future opportunities for us to expand this to other business units,
but at the moment we are currently just focused on restaurants.”
Subscribe to our newsletter below
Restaurants
comprise about half of TripAdvisor’s listings, which also cover accommodations,
airlines, experiences and cruises.
In the United
States, pricing for TripAdvisor Wi-Fi Plus ranges from $69 per month with a two-year
plan to $89 per month on a month-to-month basis. Pricing varies in other
countries.