Friends of the World Heritage - Friends of World Heritage Teams up with Indiana Jones™ to offer travelers the chance to follow in Indy’s footsteps

Friends of World Heritage Teams up with Indiana Jones™ to offer travelers the chance to follow in Indy’s footsteps

Washington, D.C. (June 27, 2008) -

In coordination with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull™, Friends of World Heritage—a grassroots initiative dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the protection of UNESCO World Heritage sites—is calling on individuals to test their World Heritage and Indiana Jones knowledge through its interactive and educational Adventure Quiz. After taking the quiz, the adventurers will be entered to win a trip for two on an exclusive Indiana Jones Travel Experience by Expedia. The contest closes July 18, 2008.

“For nearly three decades, we have been virtually transported with Indiana Jones from our living rooms to many iconic World Heritage sites around the world, Petra, the Taj Mahal and the City of Venice, are just a few,” said Katherine Miller, executive director of communications and public affairs, United Nations Foundation. “Through this online campaign and travel contest, we hope to educate and inspire travelers towards preserving and protecting these treasured site for future generations to experience and enjoy.”

In addition to launching the quiz, we also worked with Frank Marshall, of the Indiana Jones™ films to create a public service announcement about the importance of preserving World Heritage. In his message, Frank Marshall shares the following thoughts on the connection between his films and World Heritage: “Just as Indy chased [relics] because he believed in the importance of their preservation, I believe in the preservation of the amazing places where Indy chased those artifacts … World Heritage sites belong to us all, and it is up to all of us to work together toward their preservation.”

To view the PSA, and for more information about the Quiz and contest, visit www.FriendsofWorldHeritage.org.

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About Friends of World Heritage
Friends of World Heritage is a grassroots initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of protecting World Heritage, promoting sustainable development, offering ways to explore these sites through sustainable travel, and raising funds to support projects in communities that depend on World Heritage sites. Friends of World Heritage was created by the United Nations Foundation and its partners are: Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. www.FriendsofWorldHeritage.org.

About the United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation is an advocate for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas, and capital to help the United Nations solve global problems. We build partnerships, grow constituencies, mobilize resources and advocate policy changes to support the UN’s work for individual and global progress. The UN Foundation’s work - focused on select global problems - is decreasing child mortality, improving disaster relief, protecting diverse cultures and environments, creating a clean energy future, empowering women and girls, and improving U.S.-UN relations. For more information, visit www.UNFoundation.org.

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About the Partners

Expedia, Inc. is one of the world's leading travel services companies. With its portfolio of leading travel brands, Expedia, Inc. empowers business and leisure travelers with the tools and information they need to easily research, plan, book and experience travel. The company also provides wholesale travel to offline retail travel agents. Expedia, Inc.'s main businesses and brands include: Expedia.com®, Hotels.com™, Hotwire®, Expedia® Corporate Travel, Trip Advisor™ and Classic Vacations™. Expedia, Inc.’s companies also operate internationally with sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and China, through its investment in eLong™.
http://www.expediainc.com

The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support United Nations’ causes. The UN Foundation promotes a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world through the support of the United Nations. Through new and innovative public-private partnerships, advocacy and grantmaking, the UN Foundation acts to meet the most pressing health, humanitarian, socioeconomic, and environmental challenges of the 21st century.
http://www.unfoundation.org

World Heritage Centre at UNESCO
For more than 30 years, UNESCO and its partners have worked through the World Heritage Centre to identify, assess and protect places of outstanding universal value. To date, 184 countries have adhered to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, making it one of the most universal international legal instruments for the protection of cultural and natural heritage. Whilst fully respecting the national sovereignty, the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention recognize that the protection of our World Heritage is the duty of the international community as a whole. There are currently 878 properties including 679 cultural, 174 natural and 25 mixed properties in 145 countries.
http://whc.unesco.org