Expedia launches world heritage sites' initiative

Travellers to iconic world heritage sites like Machu Picchu, Peru, the Great Pyramids, Egypt and Taj Mahal, India, can now contribute to their preservation under a new initiative.

Expedia.co.uk has joined forces with the United Nations Foundation to promote sustainable tourism and awareness of world heritage sites, which also include Prague's central city, Angkor Wat, Cambodia, and the fortified town of Campeche, Mexico.

Profits from trips booked to these and other designated world heritage sites through expedia.co.uk will be donated to Friends of World Heritage for investment in local community projects at world heritage sites in need.

It means travellers will not only enjoy the benefits of seeing these spectacular sites, but can do so in the knowledge that they are contributing to their conservation.

"By working with the UN Foundation to found the World Heritage Alliance, we hope to expand our customers' travel horizons and help preserve our world's treasures for current and future generations to enjoy," said Expedia chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.

There are currently 812 designated world heritage sites across 127 countries, which have been internationally recognised for their outstanding value and are protected by the 1972 World Heritage Convention.

In addition to some of the better known sites, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and England's Stonehenge, the list also encompasses lesser known but equally important places such as the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand.

Sian Ka'an, Mexico - a large world heritage site on the eastern coast of the Yucatan peninsula - will be the first world heritage site to benefit from the initiative.

Expedia and the UN Foundation will donate resources to locally-owned tourism enterprises to contribute to local community development and help conserve the site's natural environment.

Trips to world heritage sites available through Expedia

Pueblo de Taos, New Mexico.

Central City in Prague, Czech Republic.

Taj Mahal and sites near New Delhi, India.

Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii (Big Island).

Yosemite National Park by Fresno/Modesto, California.

Great Pyramids and Nubia Monuments in Egypt.

Chichen-Itza and Uxmal, near Merida, Mexico.

Fortified town of Campeche, near Merida, Mexico.

Angkor Wat in Cambodia and other Buddhist temples throughout Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Machu Picchu, City of Cuzco, and Historic Centre of Lima, Peru.

Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.

For more information on the trips to 11 world heritage sites available through Expedia see: www.expedia.com/worldheritage

Other useful links
www.friendsofworldheritage.org
www. www.worldheritagealliance.org.org