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UNWTO And Tralliance Corporation Agree To .travel Place Name Priority Right Extension Through 2006 |
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Tralliance Corporation, the .travel Registry, announced an agreement with the UNWTO to continue the extension of the .travel Place Name Priority Right through December 31, 2006. |
The announcement took place during Online Revealed Canada, the first online travel conference in Canada hosted by the Canadian Tourism Commission, and demonstrates the full endorsement of The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for this global initiative.
Governments have already been given the sole right to their specific country names in the .travel industry-specific Internet space. However, Place Names, which are defined as cities, towns, heritage sites, sacred sites, national parks, etc., must be claimed and registered by their respective government authorities, according to Ron Andruff, president and CEO of Tralliance Corporation, the .travel Registry. The company had previously extended the deadline through April 30, 2006.
"We fully support this deadline extension through the end of the year, but believe that governments should act quickly and responsibly to protect the names of their national treasures in the .travel Internet space," said UNWTO Deputy Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai. "Based on feedback from our members, some nations of the world are just beginning to understand the potential power of .travel and we believe that Tralliance Corporation is aiding the entire global travel industry by extending this deadline," said Rifai.
"The UNWTO continues to serve in a leadership role to alert nations about the importance and need to protect the names of individual nations' most recognized tourism assets on the .travel domain," said Andruff. "It is important that each individual tourism entity place name be secured by their nations so that travelers - today and into the future - will be assured that what they find on a .travel web site is exactly what they are seeking," Andruff said
Tourism entities are strongly encouraged to visit www.travel.travel (Place Names Advisory) for information on how to complete the application process. As of the official .travel launch in January, tens of thousands of industry-exclusive domain names had been registered. At the same time, Tralliance uveiled the new .travel Directory (www.directory.travel) in development mode, as a free service for consumers and the travel trade seeking information online. Providing a precise catalog of virtually every product or service offered by .travel registrants, the .travel Directory is an unbiased search tool that distributes company, product and service information corresponding to each query, enabling users to expeditiously find exactly what they are looking for. The .travel Directory is currently available in ten languages with many more to come.
"Tourism leaders now have a better understanding of the Directory, and as more and more large tourism entities are actively using their.travel domains in large-scale marketing efforts, nations that have not registered are telling us that the additional time is critical," said Andruff. "We believe the extension is in the best interest of the global tourism industry and the leadership of the UNWTO agrees."
Travel industry associations have been encouraging widely-visited tourism and travel centers to properly register .travel names so that the sites and destinations are properly represented in the consumer .travel Directory.
"We continue to rely on these partners to help engage their membership, but it is also important that nations and their governments act quickly to preserve their tourism assets as well," Andruff said.
Canada.travel Initiative Inspires Other Nations
The decision to extend the Place Name Priority Right was fueled, in part, by the Canadian Travel Commission's bold Canada.travel nationally focused travel portal initiative, a critical component of the Canada Keep Exploring brand campaign.
According to Michele McKenzie, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission, "Thanks to the support of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA), the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), and many others that are consolidating our Canadian tourism assets under the Canada.travel domain, consumers will find it easier to find what they are looking for when exploring Canada online, instead of sifting through thousands of unrelated internet pages."
An early supporter of the .travel concept, Canada was the first nation to ensure the protection of all Canadian place names and encourage Canadian travel destinations to secure their rightful names in the .travel Internet space. "The CTC understands the intrinsic value of the industry domain and sets itself apart from the rest as a global innovator by setting the pace for .travel's strategic utilization," said Andruff.
"Other nations are looking to adopt a similar template to the Canada.travel portal for protecting their own tourism assets," said Rafai. "Extending the Place Name Priority Right affords other countries the opportunity to replicate the process and streamline their own country's online travel information and communications systems."
"By consolidating our tourism assets under one, easy-to-find location, information is more accessible to travelers looking to explore all that Canada has to offer as a vacation destination," says Jens Thraenhart, executive director, e-marketing for the CTC. "Our view is that you will be able to type any destination or Canadian tourism asset into a browser and by typing .travel behind it be taken to a web site that holds exactly the travel information you are seeking."
"Canada has set the example for other countries seeking to expand and organize their tourism and travel sectors. What Canada is doing is a perfect example of how a nation can realize the value and potential of .travel," says Andruff. "The global travel and tourism industry is following the CTC's lead in embracing the .travel initiative, particularly as they hear that we have given nations additional time to develop meaningful marketing programs and secure the appropriate domain names."
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Tralliance Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of theglobe.com (otcbb:tglo) that, as the .travel Registry, develops products and services to promote the efficiencies and convenience of e-commerce for travel and tourism companies on the Internet. |
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