New Web domain could increase business reach

The internet visibility of the travel industry is getting a boost late this year with the creation of a new Web-address extension that will only be available to companies and organizations operating in the industry.

Instead of having a Web address that ends in .com or .net, a motorcoach or other travel company could have an internet address that ends in .travel.

Members of the United Motorcoach Association, American Bus Association, and the National Tour Association are among the first organizations being allowed to help their members reserve a Web name with a .travel extension.

In other words, if you operated a coach company called Holiday Bus, you could have a Web address like www.holidaybus.travel, instead of or in addition to www.holidaybus.com.

Proponents of the service say that having a .travel domain name tells Web users "that you are a verified business or organization operating in the travel industry. No other domain name offers that assurance to your industry partners or to consumers."

Additionally, "consumers can have greater confidence purchasing travel over the internet through .travel Web sites," proponents add.

Unlike other primary domain names like .com or .net, .travel domains will be available only to travel companies and organizations that prove they are bonafide members of the travel industry. Because of this restriction, the process for securing a .travel name is different than buying a .com or .net domain name.

Before a company may purchase a .travel name, it must be "authenticated" by a participating travel association, like UMA, ABA or NTA. A .travel domain name may be registered for one to 10 years, and it is expected to cost $95-$100 annually.

As a free service to their members, UMA, ABA and NTA will begin offering what is called "pre-authentication" later this month or early next month. This pre-authentication period is expected to last 60 days.

Then, a .travel name will be available for actual purchase by association members that have been pre-authenticated. This period is called "limited launch" and is expected to last from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30.

The pre-authentication period benefits association members because on Dec. 1, any company or organization can apply for a .travel name as long as it can be verified as being in the travel industry.

It's possible these deadlines will change as details of the launch are worked out.

Coach operators interested in signing up for a .travel domain name should visit the Web site of the association they are a member of and look for the .travel information. All three associations have posted announcements on their Web sites explaining their procedures.

Companies can pre-authenticate their business name, service mark, trade mark, acronyms, doing business as name, marketing slogan, or current Web address.

Companies seeking to register a name should be aware that other travel businesses and organizations may also be eligible or seek to register the same name that they are eligible for. Final registration of any name is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Once a company has been pre-authenticated by an association, an e-mail confirmation will be sent containing what is called a "unique identifying number," which proves that a company has been pre-authenticated and is eligible to purchase a .travel domain name.

Companies can then visit the Web site of a domain name registrar that is approved by .travel to research the availability of the name it wants and to purchase it. There will be two or three online registrars approved to sell .travel domain names.

On the registrar's Web site, companies will be able to select the name or names they want, enter contact information required by the registrar, provide simplified name selection data and wait online. The registrar will check the information provided against the pre-authentication data entered through the company's association to determine if the name requested complies with the .travel naming rules. This all is expected to happen within seconds.

If everything checks out, companies will be asked to pay for their domain name with a credit card and the name or names they select will be placed in a .travel internet directory.

At this point, the .travel name will be available within 24-48 hours for a company to set up its ISP information and start directing Internet users to its Web site. Companies can have multiple names for a single Web site.

For example, www.NTAonline.com and www.NTA.travel may point to the same Web site. Companies likely will want to keep their established internet address for some time after purchasing a .travel domain.