Expedia

Expedia.com is an Internet-based travel agency and a part of Expedia, Inc.. It books airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages, and various attractions and services via the World Wide Web and telephone travel agents. The site uses the Sabre reservation system as their main Global reservations system.

The companys main web businesses include Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com and TripAdvisor.com. The company also offers services for corporate travel and travel services in Europe and Asia.

Expedia companies also operate internationally with sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Japan and China, through its investment in eLong.

History:

Expedia was originally founded by Microsoft in 1995. The company was spun out as an independent business in 1996. Expedia, Inc. first went public in 1999.

In 2001, USA Networks - now IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC) bought a controlling stake in Expedia and the company outright in 2002. In July 2005, IAC spun Expedia off into a separate company.