Dot travel domain name delayed
Industry hopes that a dot-travel domain name could soon be approved have been dashed by the news that the domain oversight body has delayed the process.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has decided to postpone review of all domain requests, effectively putting the plans on ice.
IATA, has been pushing for the new domain name for three years as part of the Travel Partnership Corporation industry consortium. It believes that ICANN’s decision could now mean there is “serious delay” to the plans.
It follows a meeting earlier this month where members of the ICAAN board expressed concern about progressing with new top level domain names until there was a “better understanding of the goals”. Staffing constraints were also highlighted as a problem. ICAAN said it had to question “the wisdom in moving ahead with the creation of new TLDs at this time, in light of the need to shortly commence a full scale review of policy in this area.”
But IATA believes that further delay – particularly when go-ahead had been expected by the end of the year – could damage the travel industry. In a statement it said: “With the travel industry still recovering from the lingering effects of terrorist threats, the SARS virus outbreak and a generally sluggish economy, it is important to modernise and facilitate the way in which industry players conduct their business.”
See our previous stories
29 Aug 2003: TravelMole Interview: Ron Andruff, Tralliance
22 Aug 2003: Dot-travel domain comes a step closer
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