UNWTO and Tralliance Corp. Agree to .travel Place Name Priority Right Extension

This week the Tralliance Corporation, the .travel Registry, announced an agreement with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to continue the extension of the .travel Place Name Priority Right through 31 December 2006. The announcement took place during Online Revealed Canada, the first online travel conference in Canada hosted by the Canadian Tourism Commission, and demonstrates endorsement of the 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 30 April 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 Dr. 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 Ron Andruff of Tralliance Corporation. "It is important that each individual tourism entity place name be secured by their nations so that travellers - today and into the future - will be assured that what they find on a .travel website is exactly what they are seeking," Andruff asserted.

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