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EXPEDIA
and UN FOUNDATION
PROMOTE
SUSTAINABLE
TOURISM (MaximsNews.com,
UN) |
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com/
-
6 July 2006 -- Yucatán
Peninsula, Mexico –
Under the umbrella of
the World Heritage
Alliance, Expedia, Inc.
and the United Nations
Foundation has announced
two groundbreaking
programs in the Yucatán
Peninsula – the
Expedia® Employee
Program and the World
Heritage Alliance
Industry Training
Program on Responsible
Tourism.
The
first programs, took
place June 19-30, and
were the first major
programs to be launched
under the recently
created World Heritage
Alliance and will
benefit the World
Heritage sites, nearby
communities, consumers
who travel to these
sites, and Expedia®
employees.
The
Expedia® Employee
Program pairs selected
Expedia staff volunteers
with a local Sian
Ka’an community-based
tourism enterprise,
Community Tours Sian
Ka’an, working to
enhance sustainable tour
offerings in this World
Heritage site located a
few hours south of
Cancun.
The
second, the World
Heritage Alliance
Industry Training
Program on Responsible
Tourism, is the
partners’ first effort
to encourage hotels,
tour operators, and
other tourism companies
in the region to promote
responsible tourism to
the region’s World
Heritage sites. The
World Heritage Alliance
Industry Training
Program on Responsible
Tourism will run in four
locations in the Yucatán
Peninsula: Campeche, Mérida,
Cancún, and the Riviera
Maya.
“We applaud Expedia
for setting a vision for
how the tourism industry
can work together with
local sustainable
suppliers, and the
industry as a whole, to
encourage travelers to
visit and enjoy the
world’s treasures in a
responsible way,” said
UN Foundation President,
Timothy E. Wirth.
Millions
of people travel to
Mexico every year to
enjoy the Yucatán
region’s five World
Heritage sites –
Chichen Itzá, Uxmal,
City of Campeche,
Calakmul, and Sian
Ka’an. Recognizing
this large interest in
World Heritage tourism,
the World Heritage
Alliance Industry
Training Program will
work with travel
industry representatives
from throughout the
region to shape the way
travel strengthens and
sustains these sites in
the future. The local
site sponsors involved
in this Program are
Campeche and Merida
Tourism Board, Hyatt
Hotels in Merida, Grand
Melia in Cancun, Grand
Xcaret, Best Day, Hotel
Tankah Paradise and
Quintana Roo Tourism
Board.
The
goal of the Training
Program is to help
employees at concierge
desks, activity desks,
or in any customer
service role to promote
World Heritage and
explain the benefits of
responsible tourism to
travelers. The Alliance
has teamed up with The
International Ecotourism
Society (TIES) and
Destination Ventures,
Ltd., to create
interactive learning
seminars, online
learning programs, and
educational brochures
for the Training
Program.
National
Geographic Traveler and
the Mexico Tourism Board
have also joined this
effort and will each
design free, educational
materials available to
travelers throughout the
region. These resources
will provide information
about World Heritage
sites and helpful tips
on how to travel
responsibly when
visiting these
destinations. All
Training Program
participants will
receive these materials
for distribution to
their customers as a way
to practice the skills
learned through the
Program.
“We
are proud of both our
employees and our
suppliers in the Yucatán
region who have taken
the initiative to work
with us on this
important cause,” said
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO
of Expedia, Inc. “This
is the first of many
activities Expedia will
be participating in to
advance sustainable
tourism in destinations
in which we do
business.”
The
Expedia® Employee
Program will help meet
the complex business
needs of Community Tours
Sian Ka’an (CTSK), a
locally, 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 Cancún and the
Riviera Maya. The
Expedia® Employee
Program will include a
two-week
knowledge-sharing effort
between five selected
Expedia employees and
participating members of
CTSK. The teams will
work together on product
development,
relationship management,
and website design,
helping CTSK enrich
tourists’ experiences
and strengthen their
community while still
preserving the World
Heritage site.
More
than 60 Expedia, Inc.
employees submitted
applications for this
first-ever employee
volunteer program, which
the company created and
funded as part of its
commitment to advancing
community-based tourism
development in and
around World Heritage
sites. The five who were
selected are Megan
Kiester, group program
manager; Olger Palma,
finance manager; Janice
Lichenwaldt, category
manager; Dustin Warr,
director of strategic
accounts; and Josh
Williams, senior UI
designer.
“It’s
encouraging to see a
corporation take a
responsible stance as
Expedia has in
supporting
sustainability, and
I’m excited that I
have been chosen to
participate,” said
Josh Williams, an
employee of Hotwire®, a
subsidiary of Expedia,
Inc. who will work with
CTSK on improving its
web site design as a way
to draw in new customers
and streamline booking
procedures.
The
participating Expedia
employees will blog
their experiences with
CTSK online at: http://whavolunteerprogram.wordpress.com.
Expedia
is also helping to
promote responsible
tourism in the region
through the Sian Ka’an
World Heritage activity,
newly launched on
Expedia.com® with the
help of Community Tours
Sian Ka’an. This
activity, which will
feature CTSK’s
“Muyil Forest and
Float” and “Punta
Allen Eco-Adventure”
tours will be added to
the other 11 featured
World Heritage vacation
packages currently
available on Expedia.com®.
All profits from the
World Heritage
destinations featured on
http://www.expedia.com/worldheritage
will be donated to the
Friends of World
Heritage Fund at the UN
Foundation.
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.
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 include:
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:
U.S. and international
media please contact:
Expedia, Inc.: David
Dennis at (425) 679-7430
or press@expedia.com
UN Foundation: Amy
DiElsi at (202) 419-3230
or adielsi@unfoundation.org
Mexico
media please contact:
Expedia, Inc.: Laura
Pinones at (425)
679-7332 or (425)
533-1212 or lpinones@expedia.com
UN Foundation: Kate
Dodson at (202) 887-9040
or (202) 492-5486 or kdodson@unfoundation.org.
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