02 February 2006

New travel domains on the internet

The .travel internet domain name has firmly established itself worldwide, as the necessary Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) limited launch phase came to a close this week.

Speaking at a gathering of travel industry leaders in New York, Ron Andruff, president of Tralliance Corporation, which administers the name, revealed that 16,162 companies had signed up in the name's first 16 weeks of operation.

These include such big names as British Airways, Marriott, Carnival Cruise Lines and Disney.

Unlike the generic .com name, companies registered as .travel will have to be verified operations that fall under the banner of travel and tourism, and as such will help to give the industry a unified presence on the web, edging out time-wasting "cyber-squatters".

Consumers should therefore find it easier to research and purchase a wide range of travel-related products, from package deals and cruises, to hotel bookings and flights.

"The .travel registry is now open and we are inviting all the world's travel-related businesses to claim their space on the internet," said Mr Andruff.

"Averaging 1,000 domain names per week at this stage clearly indicates a high level of enthusiasm throughout the industry. And while no one expects this pace to continue, it certainly demonstrates that the .travel space will continue to populate in a robust fashion over the next decade."

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