REPORT-LONDON-WTM 2006: China has signed up to join the travel revolution which has spread over the world in the past 10 months. “We’re excited to announce our on-going China initiative,” said Ron Andruff, president  of Tralliance Corporation, the .travel registry, on a presentation at World Travel Market at ExCeL London.

The travel domain expansion is on the march and 120 travel trade associations from nine industry sectors and 73 countries have joined the Travel Partnership Corporation.

Andruff added: “The Chinese Government is wholly focused on capitalising on the 2008 Olympic Games – their ‘coming out’ party – to present a new, modern nation to a global audience, in large measure through hosting hundreds of thousands of Games visitors.

“Today, few of their tourism destinations are known to any known to anyone living outside mainland China. In cooperation with the All-China Chamber of Travel and Tourism and the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, Tralliance will demonstrate the effectiveness of the .travel Directory. It will offer all the attractions to those attending the Olympics and the millions more travellers that will follow in the months and years to come.”

The .travel Registry has also made inroads in the United States, India, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa.

In Africa the Virtual Heritage Management Project presents an opportunity to protect the iconic place names that were lost to them in the .com and .net worlds, reports Dr. Tanya Abrahamse.