Expedia, Inc.  the world's leading online travel company, announced a global partnership agreement with Prince Hotels & Resorts, the largest independent hotel chain in Japan. Under the agreement, Expedia will add Prince Hotels properties to the selection on its more than 70 Expedia- and hotels.com-branded sites in 55 countries worldwide.

"The partnership with Expedia gives us the opportunity to promote Prince Hotels & Resorts as a well-known brand throughout the world," said Mr. Yamazoe, general manager of worldwide sales for Prince Hotels. "We expect increased exposure and resultant sales."

Headquartered in Tokyo, Prince Hotels operates a variety of properties throughout Japan and Hawaii, including The Prince Park Tower Tokyo, rated the second best hotel in the world on the prestigious Expedia Insiders' Select list. This partnership will provide Expedia customers greater access to Prince Hotels properties, while giving these properties greater exposure to inbound travelers and providing an important supplement to domestic travel revenue.

Expedia will also launch a new branded landing page that features all Prince Hotels properties. The page will give travelers a central resource for locating Prince properties, and represents the marketing value and support Expedia offers its strategic hotel partners to help them enhance their brand exposure in addition to the global distribution.

"Expedia is thrilled to expand our successful partnership with Prince Hotels," said Peter Lee, director of market management for North Asia. "Our relationship with Prince Hotels illustrates how Expedia and our partners in Japan work together to solve challenges and seize opportunities unique to this region."