Come fly with me: Orbitz, Walgreens partnership looks to secure travelers' health

CHICAGO and DEERFIELD, Ill. In an effort to keep travelers healthy throughout the holiday season, a leading global online travel company and one of the nation's largest drug store chains have joined forces through new cross-promotional marketing programs.

Orbitz Worldwide and Walgreens said their partnership will allow them to offer exclusive travel discounts and deals to Walgreens customers on Orbitz.com -- while Orbitz customers will benefit from special offers on products and services at Walgreens' 7,600 locations -- and will highlight consumer research and educational campaigns focused on being a healthy traveler.

In line with the announcement, the companies released results of a consumer poll in which 25% of holiday travelers surveyed had travel plans interrupted by unexpected illness. What's more, 41% of respondents believed that traveling does increase their chances of getting sick and taking such preventive measures as hand-washing and using hand sanitizer (58%) or getting the flu shot (29%) boost their chances of remaining healthy during holiday travel.

“This re-inforces the need to educate travelers about important yet easy steps they can take to stay healthy during the holiday travel season,” said Cheryl Pegus, Walgreens chief medical officer. “As travelers place a growing emphasis on health and wellness, we’ll provide the resources and information to help them stay well throughout the year.”

Both companies will support the program with cross-promotional brand visibility, educational outreach to customers and ongoing publicity efforts throughout 2011.

“This partnership will help improve the holistic travel experience for individuals and families, first focusing on raising awareness for our customers about preventive healthcare measures that can help make for a happy holiday,” said Jeanenne Tornatore, senior travel editor of Orbitz.com. “A major underlying goal is to further educate and inform travelers and encourage them to be proactive about seeking advice from healthcare experts about how they can maintain a healthy lifestyle during the holidays.”