Tripadvisor gives consumer-to-travel agent service Reco a full launch

Tripadvisor is putting its Reco travel planning and booking concierge service into the market.

The move comes almost six months on from Tripadvisor disclosing the beta testing of Reco in the U.S.

Reco is a platform to connect consumers to "travel designers" who will plan and book their trip on their behalf for a fee of $199 per trip.

Travelers select dates for a trip, length of stay, type (getaway, festival, reunion, cruise, etc.), budget range, interests and "vibe" (romantic, spiritual, chill, etc.) and then Reco offers a range of matches to agents with expertise in those areas.

Users are then able to select an agent, learn about their experience, contact and start to build an itinerary and book a trip.

Tripadvisor says during the beta test it has sent traffic to Reco and testing conversion rates on the product via its own traffic from the mothership, on social media and customer relationship management tools.

An official says it is unable to break out specific numbers but "we're comfortable with our learnings to bring this to market now."

"As we see travel planning interest rise in a world that is anticipating the vaccine will soon be widely available and it becomes safe to travel again, a service like Reco will be necessary for more bespoke travel planning," the official adds.

Some 300 agents have been incorporated into the platform, with their specialist areas covering more than 100 destinations.

The service is still only available to U.S. customers but the coming months will see it extended to other countries, as well as the launch of an Android app to operate alongside the existing desktop and iOS versions of service.

* Check out this interview with Tripadvisor CEO Steve Kaufer recorded at The Phocuswright Conference in November...