As the new commercial director Asia Pacific for TripAdvisor, Alvin Ch'ng sees his role as helping "hoteliers embrace social media and better manage their online community presence".

Ch'ng (right)  is part of the newly-formed TripAdvisor for Business division, which is leading the company's outreach to the hospitality trade.

"It's a new division within where we reach out and engage the hospitality and accommodation providers to build relationships and provide them with the ability to respond and better manage their presence on TripAdvisor.

"My role is to spearhead and build out the TA's Business Listing division for APAC, encouraging hoteliers to sign up for our free owner centre tools as well as Business Listings subscription service to list and empower hotels to engage directly with travelers for bookings."

Ch'ng has over 20 years of Asia Pacific experience in media, Internet and ICT (Information, communication and technology and was most recently the Managing Director of AC Mediacom. Prior to that, he was the Regional Director for Asia Pacific at The New York Times where he set up NYT's Asia Pacific operation and was responsible for managing content syndication, licensing and advertising.

Asked why the move into a media vertical like travel, Ch'ng said, "The whole landscape for media has changed significantly with the growth of Internet and explosion of smart phones usage. Social media - Web 2.0 – has become main media in many instances.

"Review sites from cars, plastic surgeons to public toilets have become a key resource or reference channel for users to share experience and make purchasing decisions.

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