Expedia, Inc. Partners with Free The Children to Adopt a Village in Verdara, India

BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia, Inc., one of the world's largest travel companies, and Free The Children, an international charity and educational partner, today announced the launch of a multi-year partnership. Through this collaboration, Expedia, Inc. will address poverty in the rural community of Verdara in northwestern India, by supporting Free The Children's Adopt a Village program, a holistic and sustainable international development model that empowers rural and marginalized communities to lift themselves from the cycle of poverty.

Expedia, Inc.'s support in Verdara will address all five pillars of Free The Children's Adopt a Village model: access to education, clean water and sanitation, agriculture and food safety, health, and alternative income.  There is no single solution to end poverty, but a holistic approach incorporating all of these pillars can transform the lives of community members and provide families with sustainable resources – the key to ensuring they never need charity again.

Expedia, Inc.'s global employees will have the chance to visit a rural community within the Udaipur district of India and see first-hand how these five pillars can work together by fundraising for Free The Children or volunteering at an organization of their choice. To further amplify their efforts, employees can take advantage of Expedia, Inc.'s matching gift and volunteer hour benefit.

"We've seen the work Free The Children does and the tangible results their development model brings for the most rural of communities," said Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia, Inc. President and Chief Executive Offer. "We want our employees to see first-hand the impact they can make and our service trip to India is a perfect way to get them involved through fundraising and volunteering at home, then on the ground in India."

"Like Free The Children, Expedia believes in the power of people helping people to make a difference," said Craig Kielburger, Co-Founder of Free The Children. "It's for this reason, and many others, that we are incredibly excited to announce this partnership and begin working together to support the people of Verdara, India on their journey in becoming a sustainable community." 

About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is one of the world's largest travel companies, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:

• Expedia.com®, the world's largest full service online travel agency with localized sites in 31 countries
• Hotels.com®, the hotel specialist with localized sites in more than 60 countries
• Hotwire®, a leading discount travel site that offers opaque deals in 12 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia
• Travelocity®, a pioneer in online travel and a leading online travel agency in the US and Canada
• Egencia®, the world's fifth largest corporate travel management company
• eLong™, a leading mobile and online travel service provider in China
• Venere.com™, an online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
• trivago®, a leading online hotel metasearch company with sites in 49 countries
• Wotif Group, a leading operator of travel brands in the Asia-Pacific region, including Wotif.com ®, lastminute.com.au®, travel.com.au, Asia Web Direct®, LateStays.com, GoDo.com.au and Arnold Travel Technology
• Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities, experiences and ground transportation in hundreds of destinations worldwide
• Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
• Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, a provider of exceptional value and expert advice for travelers booking cruises and vacations through its network of 180 franchise locations across North America
• CarRentals.com^™, the premier car rental booking company on the web

The company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers the opportunity to reach a highly valuable audience of in-market consumers through Expedia Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world's leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia® Affiliate Network. For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.

Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners.  © 2015 Expedia, Inc.  All rights reserved.  CST: 2029030-50

About Free The Children
Free The Children is an international charity that partners with developing communities in eight countries worldwide to overcome the root causes of poverty and remove the barriers to education. We work through five development pillars that provide sustainable solutions and build up communities' capacity to meet every child's right to education, water, health care, food and a thriving future. We Act and We Day are our local programs that work to empower a WE generation. We Act is a service-based learning program that supports students in becoming compassionate leaders and active citizens by taking action for the issues that matter most to them. Third-party impact studies show that We Act alumni are more likely to vote, volunteer and be socially engaged than their peers, and the impact they've made is incredible. Since 2007, We Act participants have raised $45 million for local and global causes and volunteered 14.6 million hours of their time. We Day celebrates and further inspires a WE generation who want to make a difference in their communities and around the world. A series of stadium-sized educational events, We Day brings world-renowned leaders, speakers and performers together with tens of thousands of students and educators to learn about local and global issues and spark meaningful action.

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SOURCE Expedia, Inc.

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