BWI: TripAdvisor and Yatra.Com Sponsor a First of its kind-great Himalayan Drive

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: TripAdvisor Media Network
Thursday, January 28, 2010 03:55 PM IST (10:25 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Travel & tourism; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Information technology, Travel & tourism; Technology
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TripAdvisor and Yatra.Com Sponsor a First of its kind-great Himalayan Drive
Noted Travel Blogger to Drive from the Western End of the Himalayas in Kashmir to the Eastern End in Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, January 28, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- In the first sponsorship of its kind in the online travel space in the country, TripAdvisor, the world's largest and most popular travel community, and Yatra.com, India's leading online travel company has partnered with noted travel blogger and photographer Ajay Jain for an ultimate driving challenge that covers the entire span of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.

The journey will take place in two phases. The first leg, starting January 29, will commence from Nepal and end in Arunachal Pradesh and last 8-10 weeks. The second leg will start from Kashmir and end in Uttarakhand, ending where the first leg started. This will take place in May & June over 6-8 weeks. The drive is is being split into these two phases keeping weather conditions in mind.

Mr. Sharat Dhall, Managing Director, TripAdvisor India said, "TripAdvisor's vision is to help people around the world plan and have the perfect trip on any budget by providing them with unbiased reviews by real travelers. Driving across the full length of the Himalayas is a daunting task and we're proud to Sponsor Ajay in this endeavour. Ajay will use TripAdvisor hotel reviews in making his choices of stay along the road trip - a testimony to the India specific content of the site. Ajay will also share his hotel stay & travel experiences on TripAdvisor - making them available to millions of travelers across India and the world. We wish Ajay all the best and a safe trip!"

Speaking on the occasion, Pratik Mazumder, Marketing Head, Yatra.com, said, "Yatra has always proven to be a travel/destination pioneer, therefore, we take pride in joining hands with Ajay for this thrilling expedition and wish him success for this long journey. This step reinforces our travel expertise and we keenly look forward to seeing Ajay after 120 days to know his diverse travel experience, which would be shared with our audiences to educate them on our successful association with this voyage."

About TripAdvisor Media Network

TripAdvisor® Media Network, operated by TripAdvisor, LLC, attracts more than 36 million monthly visitors* across 15 popular travel brands: TripAdvisor®, www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.frequentflier.com, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com and www.virtualtourist.com. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 25 million monthly visitors*, 15 million registered members and 30 million reviews and opinions. Featuring real advice from real travelers, TripAdvisor-branded sites cover more than one million destinations, hotels, restaurants and attractions and operate in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com), the U.K.(http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk), Ireland (http://www.tripadvisor.ie), France (http://www.tripadvisor.fr), Germany (http://www.tripadvisor.de), Italy (http://www.tripadvisor.it), Spain (http://www.tripadvisor.es), India (http://www.tripadvisor.in), Japan (http://www.tripadvisor.jp), Portugal and Brazil (http://www.tripadvisor.com.br), Sweden (http://www.tripadvisor.se), The Netherlands (http://nl.tripadvisor.com) and Canada (http://www.tripadvisor.ca). TripAdvisor also operates in China under the brand daodao.com (http://www.daodao.com) and Kuxun.cn (http://www.kuxun.cn). TripAdvisor® Media Network provides travel suppliers with graphical advertising opportunities and a cost-per-click marketing platform. Collectively, the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network have won hundreds of awards and accolades from press and industry worldwide. TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE).

TripAdvisor and the TripAdvisor logo are registered trademarks 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.

©2010 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.
*Source: comScore Media Metrix, July 2009

About Yatra.com

Yatra.com, rated as India's No. 1 travel website by Juxt Consult - India Online Survey 2008 is a one-stop-shop for all travel needs. From air tickets to hotel rooms to holiday packages to car rentals, yatra.com has everything to service today's traveler. With yatra.com, you can book air tickets over the internet, through their 24x7 customer care centre, Yatra.com Holiday Lounges or by simply using your mobile phone. Yatra.com gives you an access to the best travel deals across a myriad of national and international destinations. It is one of the largest consolidators of hotels in India. Yatra.com provides reservation for 4,000 hotels across 300 destinations in India. Yatra also has international tie-ups with all the major international airlines and provides real time access to over 90,000 hotels across the world. All products at yatra.com come with a best price guarantee and an assurance of instant bookings. Currently yatra.com is doing average revenue of Rs 80 crores a month and a volume of more than 6,500 air tickets and 300+ hotel room nights per day.

To view the photographs, please click on the link given below:

L-R Capt. Ajay Sood and Travel Blogger Ajay Jain during the flagoff ceremony of the Great Himalayan Drive.JPG

L-R Travel Blogger Ajay Jain along with Capt. Ajay Sood at the flag off ceremony of the Great Himalayan Drive.JPG
For picture(s)/data to illustrate this release click below:

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CONTACT DETAILS
Nidhi Mehra, 20:20 Media, +91 9818331654, nidhimehra@2020india.com
Lakshita Sogani, 20:20 Media, +91 9899200649, lakshita@2020india.com
Nikhil Ganju, TripAdvisor, +91 9811299822, nganju@tripadvisor.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, TOURISM, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, TRAVEL, TECHNOLOGY

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