BELLEVUE, Wash. and ACAPULCO, Mexico, March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Heritage Alliance (WHA) -- a 15 member partnership founded by Expedia, Inc. and the United Nations Foundation to promote sustainable travel to UNESCO World Heritage sites -- announced today at the travel conference Tianguis Turistico the implementation of the second Expedia(R) Employee Volunteer Program currently taking place in Mexico. The program, a key component of the WHA, pairs Expedia employees with community-based sustainable tourism companies to create unique, high-quality cultural and natural tours.

This month, under the umbrella of the WHA, Expedia sent a select group of employees to work in Senor, a small Mayan community in the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula near the World Heritage site of Sian Ka'an. There, the employees and UN Foundation representatives partnered with a local tourism cooperative by the name of Xyaat (the Mayan name of a local palm plant) to develop two cultural and ecological tours that provide much-needed economic benefit to the community while simultaneously conserving and celebrating local cultures and ecosystems.

The first Xyaat tour is a traditional tour of the Laguna Azul (Blue Lagoon), with interpretive trails, canoeing, camping, swimming, and observation of flora and fauna. The second tour -- a culture and community tour around Senor -- offers an immersion experience in indigenous medicine, fire-making, cooking, storytelling, dances and spirituality of the Maya culture, and the manufacturing of local products such as "henequen" (rope), honey, hammocks, and arts and crafts.

"Xyaat began a few years ago as a very dynamic, community-run enterprise with a strong vision and commitment to improve the local economy, culture and environment through sustainable tourism," said Erika Harms, director of sustainable development at the UN Foundation. "It is exciting to watch the Expedia employees working hand-in-hand with local community leaders to address Xyaat's challenges such as business planning, product design, and marketing, with the ultimate goal of a better tourism product with greater benefit to local people."

Helping preserve Mexico's treasures

WHA launched its efforts in Mexico in the spring of 2006 with the inaugural implementation of the Expedia Employee Volunteer Program. For the first program, Expedia employees traveled to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to work with 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. Since the WHA project kickoff, CTSK has experienced revenue growth of more than 125 percent, and earlier this month was recognized with the prestigious Equator Prize, given biannually to the world's most innovative community sustainable development project initiatives.

The current Expedia Employee Volunteer Program will help bring the communities of Xyaat and CTSK together, facilitating local collaboration, knowledge sharing, and cross-marketing opportunities between the two groups.

Partnering with industry leaders

In fall 2006, nine travel industry leaders joined the WHA, including Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Camino Real Hotels, Club Mediterranee (Club Med), El Sueno Hotel and Spa, Maroma Resort and Spa (Orient-Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises), Mayaland Resorts Group, Paraiso de la Bonita Resort and Thalasso, Radar Tours, and Solimar Marketing and Travel. Each of these new members has committed to sustainable business practices, supporting local communities, and educating travelers on the importance of World Heritage conservation and sustainable tourism.

"We are honored by the support and commitment of our partners in Mexico to advancing the mission of the World Heritage Alliance," said Pablo Castro, Director of Market Management, Latin America, Expedia Partner Services Group. "The World Heritage Alliance demonstrates the powerful impact of public- private partnerships dedicated to preserving the heritage of communities in World Heritage sites around the globe."

The WHA welcomed six associate partners in addition to the industry members in 2006: Academex Digital Publishing, Destination Ventures, Rainforest Alliance, RARE Conservation, the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB), and the Secretary of Tourism for Mexico (SECTUR).

WHA members and partners have already begun making a positive difference in their communities. For example, Fairmont Mayakoba, Paraiso de la Bonita, and Maroma Resort and Spa and others are actively working to feature sustainable community products -- from organic honey and local artisanry, to sustainably harvested lobster -- in their hotel restaurants and gift shops. Additionally, all WHA members implement employee training programs on sustainable tourism and World Heritage conservation, and distribute educational materials to guests demonstrating how their travel choices make a difference in the destinations they visit.

As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainable tourism, the WHA continues to attract new travel and tourism industry members in both the public and private sectors.

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 UNESCO 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 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(R), hotels.com(R), Hotwire(R), Expedia(R) Corporate Travel, TripAdvisor(R) and Classic Vacations(R). Expedia, Inc.'s companies also operate internationally with sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Japan and China, through its investment in eLong(TM). For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/.

About the UN Foundation

The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world's most pressing problems, and also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. http://www.unfoundation.org/

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 830 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. Classic Vacations is either a trademark or registered trademark of Classic Vacations, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. hotels.com is either a trademark or registered trademark of hotels.com, L.P. a subsidiary of hotels.com in the U.S. and/or other countries. Hotwire is either a trademark or registered trademark of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. TripAdvisor is either a trademark or registered trademark of TripAdvisor LLC 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.

CST: 2029030-40

CONTACT: Katrina Thomas of Expedia.com, +1-425-679-4317, or
press@expedia.com; or Amy DiElsi of UN Foundation, +1-202-887-9040, or
adielsi@unfoundation.org

Web site: http://www.expediainc.com/