Following recent news surrounding dot travel domains, travel marketers are questioning the value of adopting a proposed common domain extension for the travel industry. Ironically these questions have likely contributed to the slow adoption and changes occuring.
The dot Travel (.travel) domain was launched globally to the travel and tourism industry to create a trusted standard by which consumers could rely on. In order to secure a dot travel domain, travel and tourism companies were required to pass an authentication process. This ensured that consumers could rely on the fact that once they reached a dot travel domain, they would be dealing with an offical and authentic travel provider or destination company.
About a year ago, I was surprised when a representative contacted me (YES they called ME!) to let me know that many dot travel domains were being released and the authentication process would be ‘relaxed’. I have been a strong supporter of the concept since inception so I was alarmed and excited all at the same time. I managed to secure several domains in a matter of minutes – some directly relevant to businesses for which I manage websites, and others that were somewhat questionable (based on my knowledge of the criteria for authentication).
After reading the recent post by Jens Thraenhart; Dot Travel – The Rise and Fall of a Brilliant Concept, it all became clear.
To this day, I still believe in the overall idea – and I’ve always questioned my steadfast rule, that a dot com domain is a MUST for any online business. With the slow adoption by the travel industry and little consumer awareness, is there any value in launching a new online business using dot travel alone?
At this point, I still plan to move ahead with my strategy – but my question is… since it seems the authentication process has been removed completely (thus removing overhead required for such a process), will the high price of these domains come down?? (Currently it’s a costly idea at around $100 a year for a dot travel domain compared to $10 a year for dot com) Or will the money-hungry corporation that owns the rights to these domains just sit back and watch the cash pour in? Time will tell.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:13 am
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