Dot Travel (.travel) – Do we really need it?

TravelMole guest comment by Andrew J Wood, general manager, Chaophya Park Hotel & Resorts, Thailand.

The idea that all travel and tourism related businesses are going to switch from their existing internet domains (.com or .org or .net) to .travel is a nice idea but do we really need it?

Will we spend the many hundreds of man-hours reinventing our web addresses, just so that we are seen to be an “approved “ travel/tourism provider?

At a cost of US$240, you can register for a .travel domain name for a period of two years. The sales pitch is that by doing so, you join an online community for the travel and tourism industry.

Among its many benefits, it is argued, is that being a part of .travel domain you will have access and a listing in the .travel directory and thereby able to match buyers and sellers of travel products and services.

Now this is where I am starting to get interested as this is exactly the kind of opportunity we pay $’000’s every year to attend tradeshows such as ATF and PATA Mart. So imagine this could be done electronically via the net. Well as yet it’s a dream and I am not quite so sure whether this people orientated industry will completely do away with face to face contacts, but it has to be a way forward in providing more buyer/seller interactions.

However, I have still to be convinced that it would be worth undertaking a corporate re-branding in all print, internet and corporate contract materials just so I can be seen to have the right address.

And while people/individuals can easily cruise around the hotmail, gmail and yahoo domains and change private email addresses to suit their whims or fancies, is it really a viable option for large businesses? After all, we spend much to advertise our web addresses, are we really prepared to throw that all away and start again?

Maybe for a start-up operation the option to join is attractive but for the rest…?

The eTravel community, however, is open to fraud and misrepresentation and this is where those in favour of a .travel domain believes it can be effective.

Will a domain name change protect against fraud? Maybe. Alternatively, will it help to give the fraudsters confidence to make their devious work more ‘official’ looking?

Ask eBay about their customers being constantly ‘hit’ to give their confidential passwords and credit card details from what appear to be an ‘official’ eBay email. 

Moreover, for those in the industry that say that it will weed out the cowboys – will it? Who will decide who is a bona-fide operator and who not?

The sales pitch informs us that as .travel is an exclusive domain, you must prove that you belong to the international travel industry. It goes on to say further, that all potential holders of a .travel name must be approved to hold that name by having their eligibility reviewed.

I guess the answer to the ‘who’ question therefore, is that the domain owners will also be the regulator. Nevertheless, even if the regulators are seen to be independent, aren’t there enough industry bodies around already without adding another?

In all things new, there will be resistance to change, there are both good and bad arguments to switch to .travel. The problem is that there appear to be no overwhelming ones to make you (me)  want to rush  and change the way you present yourself in the market place.

And who will be the ultimate benefactors? The domain owners say the public, in that they are dealing with a ‘regulated’ body of travel information providers that will simplify navigation of the internet for online shoppers.

We will have to see who will be the real winners, until then I will stay with .com but I will be watching.