TripAdvisor just announced sweeping layoffs of about 20 percent of its staff across its core brand and Viator in a major restructuring that aims to refocus on experiences and AI-driven trip planning.
TripAdvisor had a golden opportunity to become the go-to source for travel advice. Instead, it overmonetized the platform, cluttered the user experience, and watched its trust erode. Sponsored placements crowded out authenticity. The very thing that made it valuable, credible user reviews, got buried under paid content and ads. Google soon surpassed them as the go-to site for reviews, and generative AI, such as ChatGPT, will likely take the lead as the new trip advisor (pun intended).
Now the company says it will narrow its focus, manage its core legacy business for profitability, and chase growth in experiences and AI. (When you start calling your main business “legacy,” I’d say the writing’s already on the wall.)
Our read: The ship may have sailed. Travel discovery and trust have already shifted elsewhere. Cutting staff and reorganizing operations may buy time, but probably not relevance. Even with modest earnings growth in Q3, the company’s latest pivot feels more like survival mode than a bold reinvention. The platform that once helped travelers navigate the world now seems lost.
