Expedia
Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary by Expanding Its
Commitment
to the World Heritage Alliance Groundbreaking joint initiative
with the United Nations Foundation to promote
sustainable tourism celebrates milestones of its
first year in existence
SANTIAGO, Chile
– Oct. 23, 2006 – In celebration of
Expedia.com®’s 10th anniversary on Oct.
22, Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world’s
leading online travel company, announced the multi-year
renewal of its partnership with the United Nations
Foundation (UN Foundation) ) to continue the work
of the World Heritage Alliance (WHA). The announcement
was made at the Society of American Travel Writers
Annual Convention in Santiago, Chile. The WHA
is an industry-leading initiative that was jointly
formed by Expedia® and the UN Foundation in
2005 to promote sustainable tourism and awareness
of World Heritage sites and communities around
the world.
“Expedia is dedicated to positively impacting
global tourism through the promotion of sustainable
tourism, an endeavor of which our partnership
with the United Nations Foundation is a cornerstone,”
said Paul Brown, president, Expedia North America
and Global Partner Services Group, Expedia, Inc.
“We are committed to making a positive impact
on the travel industry, and we’re proud
of all that we’ve accomplished with the
World Heritage Alliance in our first year of partnership.”
Expedia and the UN Foundation have also developed
a successful model to engage the industry and
official tourism offices in the World Heritage
Alliance. Among the industry partners who have
joined in supporting the WHA are the Secretary
of Tourism for Mexico and the Mexican Tourism
Board. The WHA has plans to continue building
upon the work already in progress in Mexico by
continuing its support to the region and expanding
its efforts to the Caribbean in 2007.
“Through the World Heritage Alliance, Expedia
and the UN Foundation are making a significant
impact, both within the travel industry and in
communities in and around World Heritage sites,”
said UN Foundation President, Timothy E. Wirth.
“Our hope is by stimulating positive changes
in communities around World Heritage sites, presenting
new tourism suppliers and products, and ensuring
the long-term conservation of important travel
destinations, the world’s treasures will
be protected for years to come.”
One-Year Milestones
In the first year of the program:
• Expedia and the UN Foundation supported
local economic development work by launching the
Expedia® Employee Program in the Yucatan Peninsula
to help meet the complex business needs of Community
Tours Sian Ka'an (CTSK), a local, predominantly
Mayan-owned tourism cooperative working to ensure
protection of the delicate mix of coral reefs,
mangroves, clear deep-water pools and forests,
which are increasingly drawing tourists southward
from nearby Cancun and the Riviera Maya.
• The WHA launched five training programs
and an online course for local travel industry
suppliers and partners in the Yucatan Peninsula,
which drew over 500 participants from 137 travel-related
companies and organizations in the region.
• As part of Expedia’s call to action
to help preserve and sustain World Heritage sites
around the world, the company engaged its own
employees for its annual Community Service Day
to volunteer at Olympic National Park, the nearest
World Heritage site to the Expedia, Inc. corporate
headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. Nearly 100 Expedia
employee volunteers helped to sustain the park's
beauty by cleaning and repaving its historic trails.
The Alliance is also educating travelers about
the preservation of World Heritage sites through
their joint initiative, www.friendsofworldheritage.org,
which encourages individuals to learn more about
responsible travel and World Heritage sites, and
directly support those sites. Additionally, Expedia
is offering special package trips to some of the
world’s most cherished sites, donating all
profits to the Friends
of World Heritage Fund to support communities
in and around World Heritage sites. To date, more
than 525,000 unique visitors have come to the
Expedia.com® World Heritage trip pages.
Expedia’s
Commitment to Sustainable Tourism
Expedia continues to enhance its sustainable travel
offerings by delivering new “green”
travel options for its travelers. Just weeks ago,
Expedia.com became the first online travel agency
to offer travelers the ability to purchase carbon
offsets, carbon dioxide reduction measures used
to help cancel out the greenhouse gas emissions
that lead to global warming. In just the first
month since launching the offering, Expedia.com
customers have offset eight million pounds of
carbon dioxide, equivalent to 20 million air passenger-miles.
Expedia is offering the service through TerraPass,
the leading retailer of greenhouse gas reduction
projects in the U.S. With airline travel currently
accounting for about 13 percent of U.S. transportation-based
global warming emissions , environmentally conscious
flyers can now become carbon-balanced flyers by
purchasing a special TerraPass along with their
ticket from Expedia.
“We aim to inspire travelers to explore
and experience more of the world’s treasures,”
said Laura Piñones, director of emerging
markets for Expedia. “Expedia demonstrates
its dedication to protecting the globe, whether
by offering travelers green travel choices or
building awareness of World Heritage sites and
educating about sustainable tourism.”
This year, Expedia marks its 10th anniversary
as the world’s leading online travel company,
and continues to deliver personalized service,
the latest technology and the widest selection
of travel options available. Expedia is dedicated
to positively impacting the travel and tourism
industry and the geographies to which its travelers
visit. This is achieved through industry advocacy,
the promotion of responsible tourism through the
World Heritage Alliance, environmentally conscious
options such as Terrapass and hybrid rental cars,
and destination support such as charitable donations
by Expedia, Inc. to hurricane relief efforts in
Cancun and New Orleans. These important efforts
transform travel, rebuild cultures and protect
world treasures.
About the World Heritage Alliance:
The World Heritage Alliance works to support World
Heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, and
local economic development for communities in
and around World Heritage sites. The UN Foundation
and Expedia, Inc. created the World Heritage Alliance
in the fall of 2005. For more information, visit:
www.worldheritagealliance.org.
About the UN Foundation:
The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation)
is a public charity created in 1998 with businessman
and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic
gift to support United Nations causes. The UN
Foundation promotes a more peaceful, prosperous,
and just world through the support of the UN.
Through its grant-making and by building new and
innovative public-private partnerships, the UN
Foundation acts to meet the most pressing health,
humanitarian, socioeconomic, and environmental
challenges of the 21st century. In one of its
largest projects, the UN Foundation works with
UNESCO and other partners to preserve and support
World Heritage sites by encouraging economic development
that vest local residents in the preservation
of the sites. For more information, visit http://www.unfoundation.org.
About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is the world’s leading online
travel company, empowering business and leisure
travelers with the tools and information they
need to easily research, plan, book, and experience
travel. Expedia, Inc. also provides wholesale
travel to offline retail travel agents. Expedia,
Inc.’s portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com®,
hotels.com®, Hotwire®, Expedia® Corporate
Travel, TripAdvisor™ and Classic Vacations®.
Expedia, Inc.'s companies also operate internationally
with sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany,
France, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and
China, through its investment in eLong™.
For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/.
(NASDAQ: EXPE)
For More Information:
• Individuals looking to get informed and
involved, please visit: www.friendsofworldheritage.org.
• Travelers looking for World Heritage trips,
please visit: www.expedia.com/worldheritage.
• For a full listing of all 812 World Heritage
sites, please visit: http://whc.unesco.org/.
For more information, press
only:
Expedia, Inc.: Lluvia Ellison-Morales at 425.679.3487,
cell: 206.331.7548 or press@expedia.com
UN Foundation: Amy DiElsi at (202) 419-3230 or
adielsi@unfoundation.org
Expedia and Expedia.com are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the
U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product
and company names mentioned herein may be the
property of their respective owners.
