BEIJING, Sept. 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- eLong, Inc. , a leading online travel service provider in China, today announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer.
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Guangfu Cui will join as CEO of eLong, Inc., effective October 8, 2007. Henrik Kjellberg will step down as Interim CEO of eLong but will remain Chairman of the eLong Board of Directors, and will remain actively involved in the company.
"Guangfu Cui has significant experience in business expansion and establishing national brands in China. He also brings a thorough understanding of the Chinese consumer and the Chinese market, having worked not only for P&G but also for Fedex Kinko's in China," said Mr. Kjellberg.
"I am delighted to be joining eLong at this exciting and challenging stage in the company's development," said Guangfu Cui. "The Chinese travel market is just starting to take off and eLong is extremely well positioned to build a very strong position in this segment. We will continue the process of change to make eLong an even stronger company."
About Guangfu Cui
Prior to joining eLong, Guangfu Cui was the Managing Director for FedEx Kinko's China. Under his leadership, Mr. Cui positioned the company as market leader in digital printing industry in China with 16 centers and 300 employees within four years after he joined FedEx Kinko's.
Prior to joining FedEx Kinko's, Guangfu Cui worked for Procter & Gamble China for over 12 years, including two and half years working in the United States. He was instrumental in building Procter & Gamble China's distribution network and retail coverage system.
Guangfu Cui is 38 years old, holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in Law from Peking University.
About eLong, Inc.
eLong, Inc. is a leading online travel company in China. Headquartered in Beijing, eLong has a national presence across China. eLong uses web-based distribution technologies and a bilingual call center to provide consumers with access to travel reservation services. Aiming to enrich people's lives through the freedom of independent travel, eLong empowers consumers to make informed choices by providing a one-stop travel solution and consolidated travel tools and information such as maps, virtual tours and user ratings. eLong has the capacity to fulfill air ticket reservations in over 55 major cities across China. In addition to choice of a wide hotel selection in the Greater China region, eLong offers Chinese consumers the ability to make bookings at international hotels in over 140 destinations worldwide. eLong operates the websites http://www.elong.com/ and http://www.elong.net/ .
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. also provides wholesale travel to offline retail travel agents. 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 Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Japan and China, through its investment in eLong(TM). For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/ .
Expedia, 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 of Classic Vacations, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. hotels.com is either a trademark or registered trademark of hotels.com, L.P., a subsidiary of hotels.com in the U.S. and/or other countries. Hotwire is either a trademark or registered trademark of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. TripAdvisor is either a trademark or registered trademark 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.
(C) 2007 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40 Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this press release concerning eLong's future business, operating results and financial condition are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they related to the Company are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are based upon management's current views and expectations with respect to future events and are not a guarantee of future performance. Furthermore, these statements are, by their nature, subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. Factors that could affect the Company's actual results and cause actual results to differ materially from those included in any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, eLong's historical operating losses, its limited operating history, declines or disruptions in the travel industry, the recurrence of SARS, an outbreak of bird flu, eLong's reliance on having good relationships with hotel suppliers and airline ticket suppliers, collection risk with respect to eLong's corporate travel accounts receivable, the possibility that eLong will be unable to timely comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the risk that eLong will not be successful in competing against new and existing competitors, risks associated with Expedia, Inc.'s majority ownership interest in eLong and the integration of eLong's business with that of Expedia's, subsequent revaluations of the Chinese currency, changes in eLong's management team and other key personnel and other risks outlined in eLong's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (or SEC), including eLong's Form 20-F filed with the SEC in connection with the Company's fiscal year 2006 results. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
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