Travel company TripAdvisor is to establish an engineering hub in Dublin, creating at least 50 jobs.

The hub, which will work on new features for the company’s platforms, will be the largest TripAdvisor has created outside the US.

The company said it would initially fill 50 roles in web engineering in the short term, holding out the possibility that further jobs would come. The jobs will be created over the next year, and will be created at all levels, from graduates to more senior levels.

“We have every confidence that this is just the first step in a long and successful partnership,” TripAdvisor’s senior vice president of engineering and operations Andy Gelfond said.

Mr Gelfond described the Dublin hub as a significant milestone for the company.

Engineering site manager Lars Holzman, who will head up the Dublin hub, said one are the Irish team would be working on would be TripAdvisor’s social and mobile team.

Welcoming the jobs, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said it confirmed the country's status as "the internet capital of Europe" and said it was a tribute to the country.

Founded in 2000, TripAdvisor has published over 100 million reviews and opinions on the site and has 19 other travel sites in addition to the core TripAdvisor website. More than 260 million visitors use TripAdvisor branded sites every month.

“Trip Advisor has grown this way because we don’t stand still; we don’t rest on success,” Mr Gelfond said. “TripAdvisor engineering is where all this comes alive.”

Mr Gelfond said the company was looking for “innovative self starters”.

“As our site has grown, the need for these engineers has grown,” he said. “Dublin will be the first place putside the US we have set up a major engineering hub.”

He said the company chose Dublin mainly due to skills available, the business culture and Government support, with IDA Ireland providing aid to the company as it sought to set up here.

The company employs more than 1,600 people worldwide.