Expedia Media Solutions Offers 3:1 Advertising Match for Areas Affected by Typhoon Haiyan

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia® Media Solutions, the advertising division of Expedia, Inc., today announced that it will offer marketing support for tourism boards and organizations in the destinations affected by Typhoon Haiyan. The offering, a 3:1 media dollar match for all advertising on Expedia, Inc. websites, is designed to help the disaster-affected regions sustain visibility and boost tourism during the recovery period.

From now through March 2014, tourism organizations in countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines can work with Expedia Media Solutions to develop effective campaigns and triple the value of their media budgets. Using the media match program, destinations can broaden their reach to targeted tourist audiences shopping on Expedia, Inc. sites.

"We've offered similar media match programs after other natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy here in the U.S. and found that when leveraged effectively, tourism organizations can drive revenue for their local communities in times of need," said Noah Tratt, global vice president, Expedia Media Solutions. "Our hope is that we can work with tourism groups in Southeast Asia to alleviate some of the economic pressures in the destinations affected by the typhoon."

In 2011, Japanese tourism was shattered by the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant scare. From the time of the earthquake through the week of July 25, tourism dropped to 73 percent below the previous year's average which was a 97 percent drop. To help revive the country's tourism industry, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) collaborated with Expedia Media Solutions, creating an uplifting online ad campaign that was featured on Expedia's UK website. The campaign ran July through October 2011, and during that time, bookings increased dramatically, lifting the country's tourism by 40 percent.

To be eligible, media campaigns must be developed by March 31, 2014, but can run any time before July 31, 2014. Interested tourism organizations and boards can contact Expedia Media Solutions at [email protected].

About Expedia Media Solutions
Formed in 2007, Expedia Media Solutions is dedicated to building online and offline media partnerships for travel and non-travel brand advertisers and to enable them to leverage the unique media value of Expedia's network of leading travel brands and global points of sale. For more information, visit www.advertising.expedia.com.

About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is the largest online travel company in the world, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes some of the world's leading online travel brands, including:

• Expedia.com®, the world's largest full service online travel agency, with localized sites in 31 countries
• Hotels.com®, the hotel specialist with sites in more than 60 countries
• Hotwire®, a leading discount travel site that offers opaque deals in 13 countries on its 12 sites in North America, Europe and Asia
• Egencia®, the world's fifth largest corporate travel management company
• eLong™, the second largest online travel company in China 
• Venere.com™, the online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
• trivago®, a leading online hotel search company with sites in 39 countries
• Expedia Local Expert®,  a provider of in-market concierge services, activities and experiences in 18 markets worldwide
• Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
• Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, one of North America's leading retail cruise vacation experts

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 travel 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.  (NASDAQ: EXPE)  For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.

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