For the eighth consecutive year Americans¹ were found to receive and use the smallest amount of vacation time among their counterparts abroad.

Expedia^®, the world's leading online travel agency, recently commissioned its eighth annual Vacation Deprivation™ survey.

Despite reporting an average of 14 paid vacation days again this year, the same as 2007 and two more than in 2005, an estimated 47.5MM Americans² (31 percent of employed U.S. adults) -- almost as much as the entire population of California and Illinois, combined -- will not use all of their vacation days.

Again this year, employed U.S. adults will leave an average of three vacation days on the table, in essence giving back more than 460 million³ vacation days in 2008.

Despite these statistics, Americans do see the value in vacation, with more than one-third (39 percent) reporting they feel more productive and better about their job upon returning from vacation and 52 percent claiming to feel rested, rejuvenated and reconnected to their personal life.

Work responsibilities are one of the biggest deterrents to taking vacation, with 18 percent of U.S. adults responding that they've cancelled or postponed vacation plans because of work and 29 percent admitting they have trouble coping with stress from work at some point in the vacation cycle.

Additionally, nearly one quarter (24 percent) report that they check work e-mail or voicemail while vacationing. That figure is up from only 16 percent in 2005.

"The research is clear, despite leaving vacation days unused, Americans believe in the restorative power of taking time off, as well as their employers attitudes around taking the days they earn," said Paul Brown, president, Expedia.com.

"Regardless of the number of vacation days Americans receive or how they want to take them, Expedia aims to provide travelers with planning tools that allow them to book their perfect trip at the right price backed by our Best Price Guarantee."

Americans Lose the Global Tally

Expedia analyzed the vacation habits of employed workers in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and for the first time, the Netherlands and Austria. Canadians receive an average of 17 annual days, two less than 2007 but still three more than Americans.

Among the European countries studied in the past, all workers receive more vacation days in 2008 than 2007. Great Britain has a two day increase over 2007, with 26 days, and Germany, Spain and France all saw increases of one day, receiving 27 days, 31 days and 37 days respectively. Employed workers in the Netherlands and Austria are awarded an average of 28 days in 2008.

Gender Differences

When it comes to making vacation a priority, Expedia research saw a shift in attitudes toward taking time off among women and men.

In 2007, men were more likely to feel guilty about taking time off from work (39 percent versus 30 percent of women).

However, in 2008, women are more likely than men to feel guilty about taking time off from work (38 percent women versus 28 percent men), and men are more likely than women (16 percent versus 11 percent) to take a 2-week vacation.

For complete survey results please visit www.expedia.com/vacationdeprivation .

1) Throughout this announcement, the term "Americans" refers to U.S. adults aged 18 and over who are employed full-time and/or part-time and/or self-employed.

2) Calculation: 0.31 * 153,374,000 employed Americans (Bureau of Labor & Statistics) = 47,545,940 vacation deprived Americans

3) Calculation: 3 * 153,374,000 employed Americans (Bureau of Labor & Statistics) = 460,000,000 vacation days employed adults give back

* Broadcast interviews and hard copy b-roll also available© 2008 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40

Methodology Statements

All Countries - Except CanadaHarris Interactive® fielded the online survey on behalf of Expedia.com between March 14 and March 18, 2008 among a nationwide cross-section of 1,617 employed adults aged 18+ in the United States. The European survey was conducted between March 19 and March 28, 2008 among nationwide cross-section of 506 employed adults aged 16+ in Great Britain, 527 employed adults aged 16+ in France, 467 employed adults aged 16+ in Germany, 578 employed adults aged 16+ in Spain, 588 employed adults aged 16+ in Italy, 459 employed adults aged 16+ in the Netherlands, and 579 employed adults aged 16+ in Austria. The European data were weighted to be representative of the total employed adult populations of each country on the basis of region, age, sex, education, income and propensity to be online. The U.S. data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity and propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results for the U.S. sample have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, the results for the British, French, Italian, Austrian, and Spanish samples have a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points and sampling error for the German and Netherlands sample is plus or minus 5 percentage points. This online sample is not a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Note: The Canadian data referenced in this was not gathered by Harris Interactive Inc.

Canada - Ipsos Reid

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Expedia from 03/25 to 03/28, 2008. This online survey of 2,032 employed adult Canadians was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel. The results are based on a sample where quota sampling and weighting are employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. Quota samples with weighting from the Ipsos online panel provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. An unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.