Expedia Makes a Difference in World Heritage Sites From Washington to the Yucatan Peninsula

Under the World Heritage Alliance, Expedia Employees Volunteer to Help Sustain Washington’s Olympic Park and the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve

BELLEVUE, Wash., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Many people may not know that Washington State is the home of a World Heritage site; Olympic National Park, inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1981, is internationally recognized for the diversity of its ecosystems, which boasts a temperate rainforest, alpine meadows and a pristine coastline. The park is one of 812 treasures of the world identified as World Heritage sites for their outstanding value to humanity.

Today as part of Expedia, Inc.’s annual Community Service Day, close to 100 Expedia® employees will be volunteering to help sustain the park’s beauty by cleaning and repaving its historic trails. This is part of the Expedia call to action to help preserve and sustain World Heritage sites around the world.

Since the November announcement of the World Heritage Alliance, an innovative joint initiative between the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) and Expedia, Inc. to promote sustainable tourism and awareness of World Heritage sites and communities around the world, Expedia has been actively working to educate the public and help promote responsible travel to the irreplaceable World Heritage sites found locally, as well as internationally.

“As one of the world’s leading travel service providers, Expedia has the unique privilege of helping educate our travelers, supply partners and employees about the importance of sustainable tourism,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia, Inc. “By working with the UN Foundation through the World Heritage Alliance, we hope to expand our customers’ travel horizons and help preserve our world’s treasures for current and future generations to enjoy.”

“I have been working with Olympic National Park for over three years and visited often as a hiker beginning in 1970, and I continue to be amazed at the beauty and splendor this site has to offer,” said Bill Laitner, superintendent of Olympic National Park. “We applaud Expedia for heightening awareness of sustainable tourism and promoting World Heritage sites both at home and abroad. We are pleased to welcome Expedia employees to Olympic National Park and thank them for participating in the World Heritage community.”

The World Heritage Alliance’s local economic development work underway can also be found at the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, widely considered to be one of the premier natural gems of Mexico. Last month, Expedia launched its 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. For more on the Expedia® Employee Program, see their blog at http://www.whavolunteerprogram.wordpress.com/ .

“World Heritage sites are irreplaceable global treasures inherited by all of us-to enjoy, experience and protect, and it is our responsibility to preserve these sites for future generations to visit,” said UN Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth. “We commend Expedia for their commitment to engaging their employees in the preservation of World Heritage sites around the world and are impressed with the company’s vision to shape the way future travel can strengthen and sustain these World Heritage sites.”

From the Olympic National Park to the Galapagos Islands to Angkor Wat, World Heritage sites span 137 countries and offer an extraordinary range of travel experiences. These sites are protected by the 1972 World Heritage Convention, signed by 180 countries and administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Olympic National Park is one of the 20 World Heritage sites recognized by UNESCO in the United States. Others include:

  -- Mesa Verde (1978)
  -- Yellowstone (1978)
  -- Everglades National Park (1979)
  -- Grand Canyon National Park (1979)
  -- Independence Hall (1979)
  -- Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek (1979,
     1992, 1994) * 32
  -- Redwood National Park (1980)
  -- Mammoth Cave National Park (1981)
  -- Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (1982)
  -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1983)
  -- La Fortaleza and San Juan Historic Site in Puerto Rico (1983)
  -- Statue of Liberty (1984)
  -- Yosemite National Park (1984)
  -- Chaco Culture National Historical Park (1987)
  -- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1987)
  -- Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (1987)
  -- Pueblo de Taos (1992)
  -- Carlsbad Caverns National Park (1995)
  -- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (1995)

“I am delighted to be able to contribute today, alongside my Expedia colleagues, in helping preserve Washington State’s unique World Heritage site,” said Brian Regan, senior vice president of finance, Expedia, Inc.

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: http://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. (NASDAQ: EXPE) 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/.

  For More Information:
  -- Individuals looking to get informed and involved, please visit:
      http://www.friendsofworldheritage.org/ .
  -- Travelers looking for World Heritage trips, please visit:
      http://www.expedia.com/worldheritage .
  -- For a full listing of all 812 World Heritage sites, please visit:
      http://whc.unesco.org/ .

NOTE: 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.

SOURCE: Expedia, Inc.

CONTACT: Lluvia Ellison-Morales of Expedia, +1-425-679-3487, or mobile,
+1-206-331-7548, or press@expedia.com; or Amy DiElsi of UN Foundation,
+1-202-419-3230, or adielsi@unfoundation.org</br/></br/>

Web site: http://www.expedia.com/
http://www.worldheritagealliance.org/
http://www.unfoundation.org/</br/></br/>