Expedia Unveils 10th Anniversary Sale and $50,000 Dream Vacation Giveaway

Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - In anticipation of its 10th anniversary this fall, Expedia.com, the world's leading online travel provider, launched a 10-week sale on its top 10 destinations as well as a $50,000 dream vacation sweepstakes and instant-win game. Expedia will award one 5-day/4-night vacation per week to a featured Expedia.com top 10 destination, in addition to 70 instant-win digital camera and camcorder daily prizes to help travelers capture their vacation memories.

In addition to great prices on the most popular destinations on Expedia.com, the 10th anniversary sale will offer travelers a bonus deal each week for one of the top 10 destinations. Travelers are encouraged to check in weekly to find the newest featured destination and travel bonus. The featured destinations during the sale include New York, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Orlando, Europe, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

A decade of online trailblazing
When Expedia.com first launched in October 1996, the typical Expedia user was male (79%) and Generation X had not yet tuned into online travel. As Expedia emerged as the leading online travel provider, it became one of the first places consumers turned for planning and booking travel. The 10 most expensive trips ever purchased on Expedia.com occurred in the past three years, ranging in price from $45,000 to more than $300,000, with the number of travelers varying from one to 73 booked on a single itinerary.

"Ten years ago, Expedia pioneered the concept of consumers taking travel planning into their own hands," said Dara Khosrowshahi, president and CEO, Expedia.com. "Every day since our start, we have passionately focused on offering our travelers radically more travel choices, total booking convenience, security and comfort in travel planning at always the right value at the best price. Today, travelers have demonstrated their confidence in Expedia, with 25 million visitors coming to our site every month, making us the world's largest online travel provider, and we thank them for that."

Internet travel becomes mainstream
Online travel has evolved from an early adopter phenomenon -- mostly male, single, and affluent -- to a mass consumer base.

• 1996 - Expedia.com users were overwhelmingly male (79%) - Young and middle-aged singles were the largest user group (27%) - The younger generation (18- to 24-years-old) was not yet tuned in to online travel -- (1% of Expedia customers) - The largest percent of site users had an average annual salary greater than $125,000 (28%)
  
• 2006 - Expedia.com users have evened out to roughly 50 percent male, 50 percent female - Young families and couples are currently the largest user group (26%) - The younger generation (18- to 24-years-old) has caught on to online travel (10.5% of Expedia customers) - The largest percent of site users have an average annual salary of $50,000 to $74,999 (21%)
  

"Expedia is excited to commemorate its pioneering legacy in online travel by offering travelers great value on the destinations they travel to most," said Sally McKenzie, general manager, Expedia.com. "With this promotion aiming to encourage travelers to dream big and plan their dream vacation, the site features ways for travelers to shop for travel on any budget, from the quick getaway on a budget to an extravagant cruise."

Travelers can find information on vacation packages (www.expedia.com/packages) and last-minute travel deals (www.expedia.com/lastminute ), and inspiration and information for vacationing by themes such as romance, adventure and family or by experience -- living in James Bond's house, exploring Mexico's ancient ruins or taking a luxury tour of the Greek Isles (www.expedia.com/experiences).

Whatever the dream vacation, Expedia offers the tools to plan it backed by 24/7 customer support and its Expedia Best Price Guarantee, which is the most comprehensive customer guarantee in online travel and covers everything sold on Expedia.com. Please see Expedia.com for full details.

No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C. who are 18+. Void where prohibited. Ends 10/22/06. For Official Rules and free entry method visit www.expediagiveaway.com. Sponsor: Expedia, Inc., 3150 139th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98005.

SOURCE Expedia, Inc.

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