U.S. Department of Commerce and .travel Issue National Tourism Week Challenge

May 3, 2006; 09:08 AM
WASHINGTON, DC - In anticipation of National Tourism Week, the U.S. Department of Commerce joins Tralliance Corporation, the .travel Registry, to challenge states, cities and tourism entities across America to protect their tourism assets by registering their .travel Internet domain names.

While many domestic tourism entities have already claimed their .travel domain names, a vast number of U.S. heritage sites, state parks and city names on the .travel Place Name Priority List remain unclaimed, according to Ron Andruff, president and CEO of Tralliance Corporation.

U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing & Services Al Frink, whose role is to advocate, coordinate and implement policies that will help U.S. manufacturers and service providers compete globally, says, "We encourage U.S. cities, towns, national parks, landmarks and other publicly entrusted destinations to protect their unique identities by registering their names. These are America's treasures, which visitors at home and abroad will want to find as they create their travel itineraries online."

"U.S. travel businesses and organizations must move quickly to realize the value of their industry-exclusive .travel Internet domain in the global context. Protecting our nation's valuable tourism assets can be done by simply registering them with their .travel domain names," adds Andruff.

The travel and tourism industry is one of the world's most important and fastest growing economic sectors, generating 234.3 million jobs and contributing over 10.3 per cent of global GDP, according to the Word Travel and Tourism Council.

"This challenge is about preserving our domestic tourism assets for future generations," says Andruff. "As the global travel and tourism industry continues to expand, it is absolutely critical for the United States to protect the natural, cultural and historical sites we hold sacred -- and more importantly, which draw millions of tourists to our shores every year. National Tourism Week provides the perfect platform upon which to challenge state tourism boards, city governments and other relevant administrations to take a proactive role in the global .travel movement."

While many domestic domain names have yet to be claimed, many states and tourism boards have embraced the .travel movement. According to officials at Tralliance, many are already using their .travel Internet domains in high profile marketing efforts, such as the Arizona Office of Tourism, which recently announced its title sponsorship of the "Arizona.travel 200," the semi-final race in the NASCAR Busch Series.

"In spite of states like Arizona, Florida and others taking the lead, the U.S. still has progress to make to ensure our domestic tourism assets are immediately found within the multitude of offerings from the international community, which has embraced .travel with great enthusiasm," continues Andruff.

As of the official launch of .travel in January, the top-level domain dedicated exclusively to the travel and tourism industry has been expanding from all sectors of the international travel industry. Tens of thousands of .travel domain names have been registered so far, with global travel industry leaders such as Best Western, Carnival Cruise Lines and Disney among the first to register their company's .travel domain names.

Andruff says he values the support from the U.S. Department of Commerce and Assistant Secretary Frink and hopes that issuing this challenge prior to National Tourism Week (May 13 - 21, 2006) will spark a national movement among the U.S. travel and tourism community to register their place names.

"We want to encourage all U.S. travel and tourism entities to protect and maximize their tourism assets, as Canada has done through its Canada.travel initiative," Andruff notes. "As the number one economic driver in most countries in the world, tourism generates a substantial amount of revenue for every U.S. city and state, and therefore these assets need to be monetized accordingly. By encouraging the registration of every state, city and national place name in the .travel Registry, Tralliance Corporation and the United States Department of Commerce are better able to serve both arriving international travelers and the U.S. travel industry as a whole."

For more information on registering Place Names, visit www.travel.travel or email: [email protected].

About Tralliance Corporation

Tralliance Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of theglobe.com (OTC BB: TGLO) that, as the .travel Registry, develops products and services to promote the efficiencies and convenience of e-commerce for travel and tourism companies on the Internet. Designed to serve the global travel and tourism community, the major aims of the .travel sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD) are improved Internet identity, creation of advanced distribution channels, and the establishment of a strong trust factor between the industry and its customers. For more information visit www.tralliance.travel, or www.travel.travel.

Safe Harbor

This press release includes forward-looking statements related to theglobe.com, inc. that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to integration of newly acquired businesses and assets, product delivery, product launch dates, risks relating to the Internet, development and protection of technology, the availability of financing or other capital to fund its plans and operations, the management of growth, market acceptance of our products, our ability to compete successfully against established competitors with greater resources, the uncertainty of future governmental regulation (particularly as it pertains to the Internet), pending litigation and other risks. These forward-looking statements are made in reliance on the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For further information about these and other factors that could affect theglobe.com's future results and business plans, please see the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. Copies of these filings are available online at http://www.sec.gov. Prospective investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from management expectations.

Matt Englehart Public Affairs for U.S. Dept. of Commerce 202-482-3809 Noel Perkins YPB&R Public Relations 407-838-1797