This September 13-15, 2009, the .travel team will participate as an exhibitor at THETRADESHOW amongst over three hundred and fifty other exhibitors and thousands of attendees.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL- September 10, 2009- .travel, the top level domain for the travel industry, will attend THETRADESHOW Sept 13-15, 2009. This year held in Las Vegas, THETRADESHOW is known as the meeting place for destinations, travel suppliers, and the travel industry to connect and establish new business relationships.

The show’s home will be the Las Vegas Convention Center, where .travel will be present at Booth 1208.  At the show, .travel will offer a complimentary, online service for .travel authentication to all attendees and exhibitors.   All that apply will be entered to win a raffle prize.  Additionally, THETRADESHOW will be the first industry event that .travel has attended since its recently released promotional video, which will be on display at the .travel booth.

“Many of our strategic industry partners, including ASTA, are crucial to .travel’s success and continued momentum,” commented Heidi Siefkas-Cassemiro, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for .travel.  “The .travel team believes that THETRADESHOW is an ideal venue and event to showcase .travel and its branding and marketing benefits.”

To learn more about .travel, view the new .travel promotional video, or to register a .travel domain name, please visit http://www.travel.travel.  For pre-scheduled appointments with the .travel team at the show, please contact, heidi@travel.travel

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FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-February 25, 2009: .travel, the Internet extension for the travel and hospitality industry, has been invited to be a speaker and exhibitor at the Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference. The event will take place March 10-12, 2009 at the Chicago Hyatt Regency. .travel will reach out to thousands of travel agents and providers, and continue to enhance the travel community’s presence on the Internet.

“Home based travel agents are some of .travel’s key supporters and users” says Heidi Siefkas-Cassemiro, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for .travel. “They are the largest group of .travel owners. We look forward to making our relationship with the home based agent community even stronger through our participation in this show.” (more…)

Last week, the .travel team traveled to NYC for the world renowned New York Times Travel Show taking place in the Javitz Convention Center. Expecting over 20,000 visitors over the 3 day event, the .travel team chose to participate on Friday, which was a trade specific day filled with industry players from every aspect of travel: travel agents, CVBs, associations, destinations, travel media, and more.  The day was broken into two parts:  the trade only exhibit and seminars and then the larger consumer based show.  Early in the day through the afternoon, .travel shared the exhibit floor with strategic partners such CLIA and NACTA and other companies such as PMG, eWaterways, and more.

Following the trade specific show and seminars, the official ribbon was cut to open the full exposition floor where countries, states, and resorts such as Canada.travel, Brazil, Argentina.travel, Aruba, and Thailand featured  their products to fellow industry peers and then to end consumers on the weekend.

Knowing that grabbing attention of your industry peers is key, many exhibitors offered wine, cheese, giveaways, and entertainment. The .travel team’s highlights were:

1) Vermont-the best cheese by far!

2) Aruba-the best dressed dancers.  Wow what colors!

3) St. Lucia-the best band playing soothing music from the Caribbean.

4) Utah.travel-the best giveaway with a free visit to the Grand Canyon.

After the show, it was time to explore the city that never sleeps! Indeed, there is no city like NYC! With so many attractions to offer from Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park and more, one can never forget New York. What a wonderful place to host a travel industry event! Nothing is better than, “the Capital of the World.”  It was an amazing trip and show.  The .travel team looks forward to participating in The New York Times Travel Show again next year!

If you attended and would like to add your favorites, please comment.

Last week the .travel team packed their bags and hit the road once again to meet with fellow members of the travel and tourism industry. This time the team attended the United Motorcoach Association’s Exposition (UMA) in sunny Orlando, Florida. While the weather outside may have been chilly, .travel received a very warm reception from the entire motor coach industry. Here are just a couple things the .travel team took away from UMA:

It is a Motorcoach NOT a Bus

All the UMA exhibitors were eager to correct anyone that referred to their vehicle as a “bus”. They would say that buses are the big yellow things that used to take you to school every morning, and that they were in the business of selling luxury “motor coaches”. Motor coaches today come fully equipped with leather seats, WiFi Internet connection, flat screens, hardwood floors, skylights, and entertainment systems. Technological advancements have revolutionized land travel; now you can check your email, watch your favorite movie, and explore the country all from the comfort of your motorcoach seat.

The Way We Travel is Changing

With high gas prices and financial hardship, more people are choosing not to fly and instead use motor coaches as a more economic means of traveling. A one-way motorcoach ticket from Miami to Tallahassee, FL is about $100*; to fly costs twice as much! Travelers are also finding motor coaches to be a more pleasant experience than airline travel. Motor coaches eliminate the hassle of busy airports, security check points, and three-ounce bottled liquid limits. By not focusing on the quickest possible way to get from point A to point B, travelers get to see sides of the country they may never have seen otherwise.

The motor coach industry is a major presence in travel community. In fact, the United Motorcoach Association is a strategic partner of .travel. UMA believes strongly in .travel and the establishment of an Internet travel community. It was an honor for .travel to be represented at their 25^th annual exposition. To learn more about United Motorcoach Association please click here.

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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