Henrik Kjellberg to Succeed Barney Harford as President, Expedia Asia Pacific
December 06 2006 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Expedia to Establish Asia Pacific Headquarters in Hong Kong
BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Expedia, Inc.
(NASDAQ:EXPE) today announced that Henrik Kjellberg has been
appointed president of Expedia(R) Asia Pacific, succeeding Barney
Harford, who has held the role since 2004. The carefully planned
transition provides for Harford's continued involvement with
Expedia(R) Asia Pacific activities as a director of eLong, Inc.
(NASDAQ:LONG), in which Expedia(R) holds a controlling 52 percent
interest. Expedia today also announced the establishment of its new
Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Hong Kong. "With Expedia's
launches into the three largest markets in the Asia Pacific region
successfully accomplished, and after almost eight years with
Expedia, I feel it is the right time for me to pursue a long held
dream -- to spend a year exploring the world's greatest ski and
surf locations," said Barney Harford. "Having worked alongside
Henrik for over five years, I am confident he will do a fantastic
job developing and expanding Expedia's businesses in the region."
"Barney has played many critical roles at Expedia and has been
instrumental in our success. We're sad to see him go, but we look
forward to his continued contributions on the eLong board and to
following his upcoming travels around the world over the coming
year," said Dara Khosrowshahi, president and CEO of Expedia, Inc.
"Henrik has played a major role in building Expedia's European
business over the last five years, and with his track record of
spirited leadership and extensive international experience, he is
the natural choice to lead the next stage of Expedia's Asia Pacific
expansion." Kjellberg will relocate to Hong Kong to establish the
Expedia regional headquarters, the latest in a series of
developments that mark Expedia's focus on the rapidly growing Asia
Pacific markets. Expedia last week announced the launch of its new
Japanese Web site, Expedia.co.jp (http://www.expedia.co.jp/ ). In
December 2005, Expedia launched its Australian Web site,
Expedia.com.au(TM) (http://www.expedia.com.au/ ). In July 2004,
Expedia announced its initial investment in eLong(TM)
(http://www.elong.com/ ), the second largest online travel company
in China. Japan represents the second largest travel market in the
world, while China is expected to represent the third largest
travel market in the world by 2016, according to the World Travel
& Tourism Council (WTTC). Japan, China and Australia represent
the three largest travel markets in the Asia Pacific region.
Kjellberg joined Expedia in June 2001 and led the launch of Expedia
in Holland and Italy and the European roll out of WWTE(R),
Expedia's private label business. In October 2002, he assumed
responsibility for the Expedia(R) Europe lodging team and led the
development of the merchant car and destination services businesses
in Europe. In January 2006, Kjellberg was promoted to senior vice
president of international lodging and destination services within
Expedia(R) Partner Services Group. Prior to joining Expedia,
Kjellberg worked for Procter & Gamble and Spray, a Scandinavian
Internet portal. Kjellberg holds a master of science in economics
from the Stockholm School of Economics. Kjellberg has been a member
of the eLong board of directors since October 2005. Harford joined
Expedia in March 1999. He served in various roles as product
planner, director of investor relations, and director of strategic
planning and corporate development before becoming vice president
of new channel development in 2002. In 2003, he was named senior
vice president of air, car and private label and became president
of Expedia(R) Asia Pacific in July 2004. Prior to joining Expedia,
Harford worked as a strategy consultant for The Kalchas Group. He
holds an MBA from INSEAD and a master of arts in natural sciences
from Clare College, Cambridge University. 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.'s portfolio of brands includes:
Expedia.com(R), hotels.com(R), Hotwire(R), Expedia(R) Corporate
Travel, TripAdvisor(R) and Classic Vacations(R). Expedia, Inc.'s
companies also operate internationally with sites in Japan, Canada,
the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands,
Australia, and China, through its investment in eLong(TM). For more
information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/ (NASDAQ:EXPE). NOTE:
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 in
the U.S. and/or other countries of Classic Vacations, LLC.
hotels.com is either a trademark or registered trademark in the
U.S. and/or other countries of hotels.com, L.P. a subsidiary of
hotels.com. Hotwire is either a trademark or registered trademark
in the U.S. and/or other countries of Hotwire, Inc. TripAdvisor is
either a trademark or registered trademark in the U.S. and/or other
countries of TripAdvisor LLC. Other logos or product and company
names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective
owners. CST: 2029030-40 DATASOURCE: Expedia, Inc. CONTACT: David
Dennis of Expedia, Inc., +1-425-679-4317, or Web site:
http://www.expedia.com/
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