Earlier this month .travel participated at the Cruise Lines International Association’s cruise3sixty event.  .travel was not only a sponsor, but also a featured speaker at a sold-out seminar entitled, “How to Compete on the Internet.”

Prior to that seminar Mark Murphy from TravelPulse took the opportunity to interview Edward A. Cespedes, the CEO of .travel

Click to see the TravelPulse Interview with .travel’s CEO at cruise3sixty

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – March 11, 2009 - Addressing the Annual General meeting in conjunction with the Board of Directors meeting, CEO of .travel Edward A. Cespedes reported significant progress with the .travel Registry and its effects on the global travel industry. Formed to promote .travel and recommend its policies and practices, the TTPC board consists of key industry leaders and meets twice yearly to guide further awareness and usage of .travel amongst the travel industry and travel consumers.

The highlight of the agenda was the presentation of CEO of .travel, Edward A. Cespedes, where he reported on the progress of .travel over the past year. With the shift from PC to mobile computing, search engine results are becoming more and more significant. With the world moving toward web 3.0, a content rich and relevant site is important. .travel simplifies search engine results because its easiness of use, the validity of the purpose of the top level domain name, and there are great names available.

Cespedes announced, “The .travel movement is gaining momentum in South America. We are seeing key industry players such as Colombia and Argentina actively using and promoting their .travel extensions.” (more…)

TT Bureau February 1, 2009

.TRAVEL, the new domain for the travel and tourism industry has already carved a niche across the world.  Recently, TRAVTALK has tete-a-tete with Edward A. Cespedes, CEO, Tralliance and .travel about the domain, its importance to the travel trade industry and India operations.

Justifying the importance of a completely special domain for travel and tourism industry, Cespedes said that the .com world is becoming saturated as new top-level domains are coming up and are going to cause consumer confusion.  “We feel that now is the time for the travel industry to identify itself with its own domain,” he explained.  Cespedes emphasised the growing importance for a niche domain in view of the present global economic downturn.

According to him, the meltdown is going to impact travel and tourism in a very big way.  As a result, for their survival, a lot of industries will have to find more efficient and more intelligent ways of acquiring those fewer customers.  And that includes being found more effectively on the Internet, and that’s where .travel domain names can really help, which is not a major investment.  For this an interested party needs to invest about US $90 per year.  “We are at an important juncture as the industry begins to take the domain name up,” highlighted Cespedes.

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By: Dennis Schaal

January 30, 2009

The dot-travel Internet domain has been falling short of some of its early aspirations, but two recent developments have drawn new attention to its possibilities.

First, an Australian company paid $3.3 million in a private transaction to buy a bundle of assets that included the address Answers.travel, suggesting that at least one investor sees an opportunity for a big payback in the new domain.

Secondly, the Cruise Lines International Association, which has had little to do with the new domain to date, disclosed that it had become an “authentication provider” for the dot-travel registrar, Tralliance Corp. In essence, CLIA has joined some 40 other travel organizations that have agreed to certify or authenticate the status of members who are seeking dot-travel addresses.

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Consumer awareness and getting large businesses on board are the priorities for top-level domain dot-travel this year.

Chief executive Ed Cespedes of Tralliance, which administers the TLD, said the company is devising ways to further its reach without investing millions.

“Any new top level domain costs $250m to make the consumer aware and although more and more people have heard of it, we’re not there yet and it’s a big task.”

Cespedes added that while dot-travel is seeing uptake amongst new businesses because of the crowded dot-com space, the domain has yet to see a large brand move over.

Dot-travel is hoping awareness will build through the existing destinations such as Egypt using it as well as using some of the social media sites to promote it.

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eTN: Where does .travel stand now?
Ed Cespedes: In terms of names outstanding, slightly north of a quarter million, and in terms of adoption, we’ve seen some excellent adoption by major destinations in the world. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Argentina, El Salvador, Egypt, Poland, Cancun, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Alabama. So we’re starting to see the snowball pick up a little speed.

eTN: Have your expectations been met?
Ed: I would say no. We have high expectations of the domain.

eTN: Based on the business model I saw, from day one it was quite…
Ed: We feel successful, but we don’t feel successful enough, and we feel it critical that… we are at an important time now, that the industry really begins to take the domain name up. A lot of things are happening – the .com world is becoming saturated; new top-level domains are coming out, and it’s going to cause consumer confusion. We feel really that now is the time for the travel industry to really identify itself with its own domain.

(more…)

This year’s first newsletter bring a special message from the CEO of .travel, Edward A. Cespedes, as well as yet another .travel success story that we met at World Travel Market, GoGlobal.travel

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Edward A. Cespedes: .travel benefits travel organisations

Edward A. Cespedes, CEO of Tralliance and .travel, speaks to TravelDailyNews International about the benefits and the developments of “.travel” (dot Travel), the sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD) for the tourism industry.

TravelDailyNews: What has .travel achieved over the past 4 years?

Edward A. Cespedes: I think that after going through our share of growing pains, we have proven we are a viable, stable, and very useful domain for the travel industry. The proof is in the results. You have to look no further than major destinations all over the world that have adopted .travel. And, consumers are finding these on search engines. Both are very important when noting our achievement of the past years. They show that the domain is specific and relevant.

TDN: How could .travel help change the economic downturn?

E. C.: All global travel and tourism sales begin with finding customers. The fact that .travel sites perform exceptionally well in search engines; makes it possible for more people to find .travel sites. This represents a clear reduction of customer acquisition costs, benefitting travel organizations directly in a time where profits are difficult to find.

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This week’s newsletter highlights some of the team’s participation at the Travel Leisure Conference in Miami and a new .travel success story to add to our growing list, www.SolomonIslandsHotels.travel.

.travel Team Attends Travel Trade’s 25^th Annual Leisure Travel Conference

The .travel executive team attended Travel Trade’s 25^th Annual Leisure Travel Conference last weekend in Miami, Florida. Held at the Miami Hyatt Regency, the largest and longest running Travel Trade event presented various educational seminars, workshops, cruise ship inspections, and networking opportunities. .travel executive team members had the opportunity to speak on two panels. .travel also exhibited at the Leisure Travel Marketplace, held on November 17^th.

SolomonIslands-Hotels.travel Geared Towards Responsible Travelers

SolomonIslands-Hotels.travel is a new web portal that is opening the door to independent travelers wishing to book services with local tour operators and accommodations. “The portal is an important addition to our country’s tourism promotion channels,” said the Solomon Islands Minister for Tourism, Mr. Seth Gukuna. “It will not only enhance Solomon Islands appeal, but also enable business to be conducted in this important sector.”

SolomonIslands-Hotels intends to use its .travel name in all marketing aspects including email, business cards, collateral materials, and expos. It has also used its .travel name in a recent interview on a National ABC radio program - “Talking Pidjin” - and in its participation in the Adventure Travel shows in Sydney and Brisbane in November 2008.

The name “Solomon Islands” was a natural choice to the owners, as “hotels” is a significant key word in searches and .travel reflects the nature of the site. By using its .travel name, SolomonIslands-Hotels expects to see an increase in independent travelers due to the additional exposure and well presented information available to them. They are also expecting a broad spectrum of visitors. The Solomon Islands has a variety of activities and special interests that will attract a wide spectrum of travelers from backpackers to business travelers.

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Travel Technology Is Good for Bottom Line

Fri Nov 21 2008, by Dori Saltzman

Miami –”Technology is the future of the travel industry,” said Alan Gerstner, MCC, president of Travel Doctor Consulting, opening the Leisure Travel Conference’s technology panel. Panel members agreed, adding that especially in these tough times technology can help agents optimize services, increase efficiencies and grow revenue.

“Especially in these tough times, you have to cut back and optimize efficiency using technology,” said David Goodis, CEO of Revelex, responding to the question, “How does your company’s technology increase agent’s bottom line?”

Using a booking engine, such as Revelex, can introduce agents to other products they can sell, like travel insurance, thus creating an incremental revenue stream, which Goodis said agents need to focus on.

Joff Romoff, vice president of sales for Amadeus North America, agreed, saying that the Amadeus GDS is committed to bring alternative revenue sources to North American agents. Romoff told agents that Amadeus will soon be bringing a new traveltrainment product online, which will offer the ability to book new ground services and excursion products.

Bob Maier, president of MailPound, said technology makes it easier for agents to do their job. In particular MailPound makes it easier to communicate and market the products that agents sell through personalized and targeted email marketing materials.

Both Ed Cespedes, president and CEO, Tralliance Corp., the .travel Registry, and John Peters, president and CEO of Triplogy, said technology also helps agents expand their client base.

“It doesn’t matter how much you have to sell, if no one can find you,” Cespedes said, adding that most people first search travel on the Internet. In fact, he said travel is the biggest commerce category on the Web and because of their vast numbers travel companies often get lost in the .com world. Taking on a .travel extension instead of a .com, Cespedes said, will bring more Web traffic to an agent’s site, thereby providing new leads.

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