Forewarned is forearmed and when it comes to preparing for your annual holiday then TripAdvisor offers you a website full of useful information and plenty of helpful people who can ensure you are fully equipped for your journey.
Share and Share Alike
TripAdvisor is one of the leading social networking based websites where you can ‘virtually’ converse with friends and strangers and share views and opinions on places visited by them and you.
This means there is no longer the need to turn up at your resort or hotel without a wealth of knowledge. The benefits of this are that you can book your holiday in the full knowledge of its quality without leaving your living room. Visitors to TripAdvisor will post their reviews of hotels, tourist attractions, resorts and restaurants around the world. But in addition to their write-ups you can find up to date photos and the visitors’ ratings, enabling you to see at a glance the standards you can expect to experience.
Take it Seriously
As well as giving general information about a place – from the décor in the bathroom to the view from a bedroom window, TripAdvisor members will also post updates on much more serious issues such as recent weather conditions, the effects of current political incidents and even if there have been incidence of food poisoning.
All of this is vital if you are about to embark upon a trip to the region. You can substantiate information about the political climate of a country by a visit to the Foreign Office website or back up claims about hotel building work by contacting the region’s holiday reps.
But some tales of terror can only be gleaned from first hand accounts and this is where your friends come in. While TripAdvisor has been criticised in the past for the number of ‘biased’ or ‘disparaging’ reports by members, the facility on TripAdvisor to see who of your Facebook friends have visited your intended location mean you can choose whether to trust the writer poster or not – and if you can’t trust your friends….
Healthy Information
It might be a tale of tummy upsets or more serious outbreaks of Salmonella, E.coli or Campylobacter contracted on holiday through poor hygiene and food preparation at their all inclusive hotel. Tap into TripAdvisor and browse the forums and your friends and family postings and you’ll get a ‘heads up’ so you can ensure you take precautions in the form of extra antibacterial wipes or even transferring to alternative accomodation.
Contracting an illness such as the Campylobacter swimming pool bug can leave you with long lasting symptoms such as IBS.