What Is the Best Domain Format for a Tourism / CVB Organization?

Earlier today, I posted a guest article written by Rob Sequin discussing the choice of domain names by tourism organizations and CVBs. The list that was provided was quite extensive. A few months ago, I also posted an article specifically about Visit geographic domain names.

What do you think is the best domain format for a tourism/convention bureau type organization?


Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

20 COMMENTS

  1. “What do you think is the best domain format for a tourism/convention bureau type organization?”

    It depends on the price and the type in traffic on a pure GEO.

    A good pure geo .com might cost you one to three million ish, a visit prefix could cost low six figures or less if you get lucky

    Traffic or Branding, they both have their own benefits.

    Visit Geo’s are well used by Tourist Boards, very brandable call-to-action and much cheaper.

    I have a few of them and if I can’t get in the low six figures for them I’ll be the one developing them 😉

  2. I think pure geo .com best suites this industry. But i do have invested on .Net and .us
    cometoasia net cometoeurope net wentto us and some others
    Not sure if they have any values.

  3. All good comments above and great poll.

    I voted for visit prefix because ultimately that is the goal of tourism organizations.

    The pure geo might be impossible or at least expensive to acquire.

    I guess .info has its place since information is informacion in Spanish and probably other languages too.

    I also like the use of geo .org for tourism promotion but that would be my choice after visit prefix and pure geo .com.

  4. Elliot

    Relating to your blog post permit me to share a story with you.

    The sullivan county ny visitors association uses SCVA.net as their moniker AND THAT KILLS ME!
    a) .net is the lowest of tld’s
    b) SCVA says nothing and worst va is most Offen associated with veterans administration certainly NOT a tourist destination

    In September 2011 I hand registered VisitSullivan.com and offered it for FREE to the government of sullivan county ny and they NEVER took me up on my free offer.

    Guess you could say my vote is Visit______ .com

  5. elliot..this is of the subject but there has been alot of talk about .co’s lately and i saw on nascar yesterday that godaddy was pushing the godaddy.co domain.

    my question is , do you see .co’s as a good investment for the near future.

  6. The pure geo.com, for my money. Other tlds will always lose traffic to the .com. As for VisitGeo.com, it’s like David Costello said in his Domain Sherpa interview – as the owner of PalmSprings.com, he often gets free advertising from the owners of VisitPalmSprings.com. For example, a radio spot, telling listeners to “Visit PalmSprings.com”. Thanks.

    That being said, it’s good to see how everyone rates the next best thing, since pure geo.com’s are spendy to come by these days.

  7. The bigger question is, how much does any of it really matter and how much of is just irrelevant theorizing?

    We could probably argue some sort of hierarchical structure with City.com being the best, but really, when you look at how a Tourism Bureau is going to market itself, presuming they don’t make a standard “Domain Mistake”, is there a meaningful difference between VisitDesMoines.com and DesMoinesTourism.com when its written on the side of a bus shelter?

    Of course not.

    This is one of those questions that tempts itself to be answered with domainer-logic.

  8. “is there a meaningful difference between VisitDesMoines.com and DesMoinesTourism.com when its written on the side of a bus shelter?

    Of course not.

    One is a call-to-action domain that inspires/suggests people to do something and the other isn’t.

    Many of the Biggest tourist destinations and Cities around the world have already gone with the Visit prefix to market with.

    VisitBritain.com

    VisitEngland.com

    VisitScotland.com

    VisitChannelIslands.com

    VisitLondon.com

    VisitWales.com

    VisitIreland.com

    VisitDublin.com

    VisitMonaco.com

    VisitSingapore.com

    VisitJordan.com

    VisitPortugal.com

    VisitNorway.com

    VisitSweden.com

    VisitStockholm.com

    VisitDenmark.com

    VisitFinland.com

    VisitIceland.com

    VisitOslo.com

    VisitCopenhagen.com

    VisitLuxembourg.com

    VisitBerlin.com

    VisitBarcelona.com

    VisitMalta.com

    visitCyprus.com

    VisitMaldives.com

    VisitJamaica.com

    VisitMexico.com

    VisitCalifornia.com

    VisitFlorida.com

    VisitOrlando.com

    VisitTampabay.com

    VisitLasVegas.com

    VisitMaine.com

    VisitPhoenix.com

    VisitVermont.com

    VisitVancouver.com

    VisitVirginia.com

    VisitPalmSprings.com

    VisitRhodeIsland.com

    VisitDetroit.com

    VisitDenver.com

    VisitUtah.com

    VisitDallas.com

    VisitHouston.com

    VisitPhilly.com

    VisitJacksonville.com

    VisitSalake.com

    VisitRaleigh.com

    VistNC.com

    VisitDelaware.com

    VisitPittsburgh.com

    VisitPortland.com

    VisitSanAntonio.com

    VisitSanDiego.com

    VisitStLouis.com

    VisitNebraska.com

    VisitCharlotte.com

    VisitManchester.com

    VisitBirmingham.com

    VisitCardiff.com

    VisitBrighton.com

    VisitLiverpool.com

    VisitEstonia.com

    VisitPanama.com

    VisitChile.com

    VisitCostaRica.com

    VisitAruba.com

    Its doubtfull they would pay much to change over to theplacetourism.com

    “This is one of those questions that tempts itself to be answered with domainer-logic.”

    Domainer-logic says type in traffic is always better but it still has to be weighed up against the real cost of aquiring a good pure Geo.com.

    its not 1995 any more and as nice as pure Geo.coms are the best ones would cost a fortune.

    • Yup VisitPlace.com are the MOST popular OFFICIAL tourism sites, globally.
      There are a lot more than the long list you have given us. Well done for digging all that info out !
      Sorry it’s taken years for me to reply . Only just seen your posting !

      Those official sites that have VisitPlace.com domains have possibly spent MILLIONS of dollars or pounds marketing them by now……. so they have got them FOR GOOD !!

      Anyone want to buy some?

  9. Some people forget the weight search engines attach to the pure generic name, when browsers use only the brand name as a search keyword. VisitDesMoines is not a place. Also, if you have to back up your site by investing millions in offline advertising (i.e.: tv, magazines and bus shelters), just to get people to know it exists, you’re missing the point altogether. Pure Geodomains do not need explaining. They simply are what they are. Any Tourism Board investing hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising is very foolish if putting said money into anything other than the destination brand. drinkcoke.com, instead of coke.com? I don’t think so. The more you invest in drinkcoke.com the more coke.com is worth. If one single TV Spot promoting the brand could be worth millions, how much is the actual brand worth?

  10. Hi Elliot,

    Great post. I was just doing some research for a CVB client of mine on some recent domain name sales of visitgeo domains and came across this.

    The move to visitgeo domains vs pure geo was mostly pushed by two things
    1. pure geo too expensive
    2. move by many CVB/DMO organizations changing their names to Visit GEO vs. GEO convention and visitors bureo

    I personally prefer pure GEO..

  11. You have set “Go, See, Discover, Explore or other prefix” in a same line, if you set “go” stands alone as “visit” in the poll, the result will be different!

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