Expedia enters India - Brings the World to Indian Travelers
Released on: March 7, 2008, 2:45 am
Press Release Author: Expedia Inc.
Industry: Consumer Services
Press Release Summary: Unveils Expedia.co.in. Offers international hotel selection to Indian travelers. Offers nearly 80,000 hotels and over 3,000 destination activities and attractions across the globe. Provides dedicated customer support center, with Hindi- and English-speaking agents.
Press Release Body: New Delhi, March 6, 2008 - Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world\'s leading online travel company, with gross bookings of nearly USD $20 billion in 2007, today announced its entry into India with the launch of Expedia.co.in (http://www.expedia.co.in). The online travel booking site has been designed specifically for Indian travelers and offers the best in hotels and travel destinations worldwide, along with fully localized service and an in-country customer care center staffed with dedicated agents who speak both Hindi and English.
"Indian online travel market is estimated to be worth over USD$2 billion for 2007-08 and is growing rapidly. The number of Indians traveling abroad is growing. For Indian travelers who prefer to holiday in exotic locations overseas, Expedia is the ideal place to book travel, as we are an international travel expert with global product range, competitive prices, and in-depth travel and destination information," said Sharat Dhall, Managing Director, Expedia.co.in. "Expedia is the global leader in online travel, operating in 17 countries, and last year alone, we helped more than 26 million people find a room for the night and put more than 22 million travelers on airplanes. We are very excited to help Indian travelers research, plan and book their perfect holiday."
\"The launch of Expedia India provides us an additional foothold as we continue to invest aggressively in Asia to match the enormous scale and potential of the region," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Expedia, Inc. "Our goal is to grow our international revenue to half of our total revenue, and burgeoning travel markets like India are key to achieving that goal."
Expedia's customers in India will have access to nearly 80,000 hotels across the globe and covering a wide price range. A unique offering by Expedia® is the Attractions section with a choice of more than 3,000 in-destination activities and attractions around the world. On Expedia, travelers can plan how to spend their time during their holidays even before departing on their trip. Expedia.co.in offers tickets to events, attractions, sightseeing tours, theme parks, spas, restaurants, culinary experiences, and unique experiences such as diving with sharks in Australia or going quad biking in Dubai.
"Expedia.co.in will help Indian travelers plan fun-filled summer holidays to their favorite international destinations this year," said Dhall.
Unlike most online travel agencies that offer only planned packages, Expedia India provides choices customized to the preferences of the Indian customer. The website allows payment in Indian rupees and delivers travel deals that offer value to the Indian customer. Prices are quoted upfront and include all taxes and supplier surcharges, so customers are easily able to understand the total cost of their travel, without any hidden charges. Expedia also delivers cutting edge technology and user interface. Indian travelers will also benefit from a variety of innovative tools on Expedia.co.in, such as 360-degree virtual tours of rooms and facilities in popular hotels worldwide, with over 280,000 traveler reviews of hotels throughout the world.
Founded more than 10 years ago, Expedia pioneered the online travel industry, extending the Expedia brand to 17 countries around the world, and becoming the global leader in online travel. Among is employee base, Expedia has hundreds of staff throughout the world who work directly with hotels and other supply partners in local markets to secure Expedia's unmatched selection of travel options. The company first invested in the Asia travel market in 2005 through its investment in eLongT (http://www.elong.net/), the second largest online travel company in China. Expedia.co.in is the fourth branded Expedia website in the Asia Pacific region joining current sites in Australia, http://www.expedia.com.au, Japan, http://www.expedia.co.jp and New Zealand, http://www.expedia.co.nz. Over 50 million people visit Expedia's global websites each month.
For more information on Expedia.co.in, please visit http://www.expedia.co.in
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 and in-destination concierge service and activity desks for travelers. The Expedia, Inc. portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com®, hotels.com®, Hotwire®, Expedia® Corporate Travel, TripAdvisor®, Expedia Local ExpertT, Classic Vacations® and eLongT. Expedia, Inc.'s companies operate more than 50 global points of sale with sites in North America, South America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Expedia, Inc. is a component of the S&P 500 index. For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/ (NASDAQ: EXPE).
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.
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