National Geographic and iExplore Announce Alliance

Posted on August 21, 2000

National Geographic and iExplore, Inc. have announced an alliance. As part of the alliance, National Geographic will acquire a 30 percent equity stake in iExplore, an Internet resource for researching adventure travel. The two companies will also collaborate closely on the development of adventure and experiential travel content for magazines, television, and the Internet.

Under the terms of the alliance, National Geographic will incorporate iExplore's database of more than 5,000 trips into nationalgeographic.com. In turn, iExplore will add the line of National Geographic Expeditions trips to its inventory of adventure and experiential trips available for purchase. The company will have also have access to National Geographic experts for chat events, as well as National Geographic content (articles, photography, and images) for use on the iExplore.com site. Also, iExplore's site will be co-branded with the National Geographic logo. Finally, Rick Allen, President and CEO of National Geographic Ventures, will serve on iExplore's Board of Directors.

``iExplore's expertise and wealth of offerings in the adventure travel category make it an ideal ally for us,'' said John Fahey, President and CEO of the National Geographic Society. ``Our investment in the company reflects the confidence we have in its business model and management team and our commitment to helping them grow in the future. We believe this alliance will result in extremely productive collaboration and integration on multiple levels.''

``National Geographic is truly in a class by itself as the most-recognized and trusted name in global exploration in the world and we are honored to enter into a alliance with an entity of its reputation and stature,'' said George Deeb, founder and CEO of iExplore, Inc. ``This is a tremendous milestone in the history of our company and an especially satisfying validation of our business. The benefits of this alliance to iExplore are immeasurable and will further establish us as the leading player in the adventure travel industry.''