This week’s .travel newsletter highlights the executive team’s trip to London for the ETOA workshop and conference, World Travel Marketing, and TTPC Board Meeting as well as the featured New Faces in .travel articles spotlighting ChinaTours.travel…..

ChinaTours.travel, owned and operated by the World Panda Travel Group, is a travel wholesaler and tour operator exclusively serving in the Greater China market. ChinaTours.travel markets over 26 years of knowledge operating and managing top notch travel products and receptive services. It provides complete stream-line packaged airline, hotel, cruise, visa, travel insurance to China travel enthusiasts while keeping a competitive edge in pricing, value of products and the quality of service.

Launching Chinatours.travel in March 2008, the World Panda Travel group adopted to .travel with an intention of cutting through the clutter of conventional domain names and making the industry that they are in more easily identifiable.

ChinaTours.travel places emphasis on the .travel extension for the purpose of marketing and outreach to their customers and affiliates. The wide range of .travel names available that clearly represent the business gave ChinaTours the opportunity to use their domain name as brand identification.

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CHINATOURS.TRAVEL DEMONSTRATES SUCCESSFUL BRAND MARKETING WITH .TRAVEL EXTENSION

ChinaTours.travel, owned and operated by the World Panda Travel Group, is a travel wholesaler and tour operator exclusively serving in the Greater China market. ChinaTours.travel markets over 26 years of knowledge operating and managing top notch travel products and receptive services. It provides complete stream-line packaged airline, hotel, cruise, visa, travel insurance to China travel enthusiasts while keeping a competitive edge in pricing, value of products and the quality of service.

Launching Chinatours.travel in March 2008, the World Panda Travel group adopted to .travel with an intention of cutting through the clutter of conventional domain names and making the industry that they are in more easily identifiable.

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Dated November 19, 2008-The Travel Partnership Corporation has approved important new policy changes that will release Industry Names now on reserve as well as add a new sector to the group of eligible travel industry sectors and provide Tralliance with the discretion to refund registrants whose name(s) have been revoked. Tralliance has also approved changes to the Names Use Policy that will extend the time available to demonstrate use of the domain names that you register. You may review summaries of these policies here. The amended Registry Policies document, including these new policy changes is found here. These policies will go into effect on December 19 after a 30-day comment period.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-November 20, 2008- The Travel Partnership Corporation (TTPC) approved important new policy changes at its Board of Directors meeting in London earlier this month.  Formed to promote .travel and recommend its policies and practices, the TTPC Board consists of key travel industry leaders and meets twice yearly to guide further awareness and usage of .travel amongst the travel industry and travel consumers.

In London, the Board discussed various important policy and procedure proposals.  With a majority of the Board, it was decided to release travel industry names currently on reserve for the further promotion of the .travel top level domain.  Also, the Board added a new sector to the group of eligible travel industry sectors and gave Tralliance, the .travel Registry, the discretion to refund registrants whose name(s) have been revoked, the ability to extend the time available to demonstrate use of registered domain names, and approval to conduct authentication reviews subsequent to name registration as well as prior to name registration.

These policy changes will go into effect on December 19, 2008 after a 30-day comment period.  To review summaries of these policies and provide comments, visit www.ttpc.travel

About Tralliance

Tralliance, the .travel Registry, develops products and services to promote the efficiencies and convenience of e-commerce for travel and tourism companies on the Internet.  Designed to serve the global travel and tourism community, the major aims of the .travel sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD) are improved Internet identity, creation of advanced distribution channels, and the establishment of a strong trust factor between the industry and its customers.  For more information, visit www.travel.travel.

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The .travel executive team has just returned from the World Travel Market (WTM) in London. WTM is a global event for the travel industry where one can visit virtually any country all under one roof! This business to business exhibition provides a unique opportunity for the whole global travel trade industry to meet, network, negotiate, conduct business and stay updated with the latest developments in the travel industry.

The 4-day exhibition is intense but exciting. In the spirit of WTM, .travel thought it would be a great idea to offer our tips for survival at the World Travel Market.

1) Plan out a route for traveling to the exhibition.

WTM is located at ExCeL London, which is about an hour east of the center of London. The best bet is to travel by public transport; by Tube and then hopping aboard the DLR train to the “Custom House” stop. The ride may be crowded, but the “people watching” is intense!!! If you have the budget, you can also take a river boat or private car, but the ride takes about the same amount of time.

If you are not keen on the commute, you can arrange accommodations at Hotel Novotel, which is a short walk from the front steps of the ExCeL venue. And, they have convenient massage chairs for your “WTM aching feet.” (This is a HINT to wear comfortable shoes!!!)

2) Once inside WTM, acquire a map and a bag

The venue is large, but nicely organized by Continent. Plan out which booths you would like to visit and locate them on the map in order to maximize your time. The WTM website has a great “Personal Event Planner” tool, where you can search for categories that you are interested in seeing, and have them mapped out for you (http://www.wtmlondon.com/page.cfm/Action=ShowCategory/CatPageID=1).

A large bag will be helpful to carry all of the brochures and goodies you will pick up along the way.

3) Be prepared for long lines at lunchtime

There are many places to eat inside ExCeL, but be prepared to wait in a long line to get your lunch. Plan to eat at an off time to avoid the queues, or grab a pre-made sandwich or salad at the Whistlestop food market.

4) Set goals

Decide what you want to accomplish at WTM. Do you want to make new contacts and business deals? Do you want to expand career possibilities? Or are you just “window shopping”? Make sure you have a clear objective of what the purpose of your attendance is. Also, make sure to bring plenty of business cards!

5) See London!

In your free time outside of WTM, see some of the sights London has to offer. There are plenty of museums, restaurants, shows, and historical landmarks to visit. The .travel team had the opportunity to take a ride on the Eye for great views of the Thames and Big Ben and visit the Tower Bridge. Take a break from working and explore!

To learn more about the World Travel Market, visit their website at: http://www.wtmlondon.com/

The Travel Partnership Corporation hosts its board of directors meeting in London

By eTN Staff Writer | Nov 14, 2008

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL ­- The Travel Partnership Corporation gathered its board of directors in London earlier this week. With the overriding goal to promote the top level domain .travel, The Travel Partnership Corporation and its board meets twice yearly to discuss the state of .travel. At this meeting, the board was addressed by Edward A. Cespedes, CEO of Tralliance and .travel, who reported significant progress with the .travel domain name and its effects on the global travel industry.

In conjunction with the World Travel Market in London, The Travel Partnership Corporation and its board discussed various topics including .travel’s role in the travel community worldwide, further adoption of .travel names by various key industry players, and how .travel will participate and compete in the future of the Internet with new top level domains (tlds) launching shortly.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – NOVEMBER 14, 2008- The Travel Partnership Corporation gathered its Board of Directors in London earlier this week. With the overriding goal to promote the top level domain .travel, The Travel Partnership Corporation and its Board meets twice yearly to discuss the state of .travel. At this meeting, the Board was addressed by Edward A. Cespedes, CEO of Tralliance and .travel, who reported significant progress with the .travel domain name and its effects on the global travel industry.

In conjunction with the World Travel Market in London, The Travel Partnership Corporation and its Board discussed various topics including .travel’s role in the travel community worldwide, further adoption of .travel names by various key industry players, and how .travel will participate and compete in the future of the Internet with new top level domains (tlds) launching shortly.

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The credit crunch, state of the economy, being sustainable, and is it all doom and gloom are just some of the topics touched upon this summary at the European Tour Operators 2008 Congress in London.

Graham McKenzie interviews Heidi Siefkas-Cassemiro, VP of Marketing and PR for .travel registry. They discuss the importance of a .travel url, how search engines work, and competing with .com url.

.travel Featured at The 25th Annual Travel Leisure Conference

.travel invited as featured participants at the Travel Leisure Conference November 15-17, 2008. The 25th Annual Travel Leisure Conference is projected to see record turnouts with over eight hundred travel agents and hundreds of the travel industry’s top executives. Held at the Miami Hyatt Regency, the largest and longest running Travel Trade event presents various educational seminars, workshops, cruise ship inspections, and networking opportunities.

Travel Trade invited the President and CEO of .travel, Edward A. Cespedes, as one of speakers for the technology panel. Taking place Saturday, November 15 at 4:15pm, Cespedes will stress the need to be found on the Internet and how to compete in a world of millions of other travel websites.

As a focal point of the global travel industry, Responsible Tourism will be one of the major workshops and is expected to have high attendance as well as key industry panelists, including .travel. The Responsible Tourism Workshop on Sunday, November 16 from 5:15pm-6:15pm will be a discussion moderated by Jose Luis Cabada, Sr. Vice President of Sunny Land Tours. Invited to participate by Travel Trade and Cabada, Heidi Siefkas-Cassemiro, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations of .travel, will join other industry representatives in this ever apparent key issue.

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