20(b) Explain the applicant's relationship to the community identified in 20(a)

Prototypical answer:

HOTEL Top-Level-Domain S.a.r.l. is a member of several hotel associations, e.g.

- International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), Lausanne, Switzerland
- American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), Washington, DC, USA
- Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Bangkok, Thailand
- Deutscher Hotelverband IHA, Berlin, Germany

The Managing Director of HOTEL Top-Level-Domain S.a.r.l., Johannes Lenz-Hawliczek, serves on the Board of Directors of the IH&RA. The board of IH&RA consists of XX members, they represent Hotels, Hotel Chains, …

HOTEL Top-Level-Domain S.a.r.l. is supported by these organizations as well as by

- International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), Lausanne, Switzerland,
- American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), Washington, DC, USA,
- HOTREC (Hospitality Europe), Brussels, Belgium (European Hotel Meta-Association),
- China Hotel Association (CHA), Beijing, China,
- Global Hotel Alliance, Geneva, Switzerland,

and many more including support letters from leading hotel associations from other continents such as from the Argentinian and South African Hotel Association. The support letters are provided in #20f.


* Accountability to the Community *

The Advisory Board of HOTEL Top-Level-Domain S.a.r.l. was set up to advise, support and make recommendations to the Directors of HOTEL Top-Level-Domain with respect to:

- matters within the areas of their experience and expertise
- the scope of the approval of the .hotel top-level domain
- its subsequent operation.

In addition, the .hotel Advisory Board provides assistance and guidance in

- governing the organization by establishing policies and objectives;
- supporting and reviewing the performance of the management team;
- supporting and reviewing the company’s strategy;
- broadening the multi-stakeholder approach and networking of the .hotel top- level domain;
- accounting to the stakeholders for the organization’s performance;
- developing domain name registration policies (allocation and administration of domain names).

The members of the .hotel Advisory Board are:

Dr. Ghassan Aidi, President & CEO, International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), Lausanne, Switzerland, as a representative of the global hotel association estimated to comprise 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants, employ 70 million people and contribute 950 billion USD annually to the global economy.

Markus Luthe, Member of the Executive Committee, Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés in Europe HOTREC, Brussels, Belgium, as representative of a continental hotel organization. HOTREC is the trade association of hotels, restaurants and cafes in the European Union. It is the Voice of Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés and similar establishments in Europe, bringing together 43 national associations representing the hospitality sector - which is composed mainly by SMEs - in 26 countries across Europe, from Portugal to Estonia and from Ireland to Cyprus.

Joe McInerney, President and CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), Washington, DC, USA, as representative of a national hotel organization. Serving the hospitality industry for more than a century, AH&LA is the sole national association in the US representing all sectors and stakeholders in the lodging industryI and partnered with 41 state associations to provide local representation.

Nancy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Minnetonka, MN, USA, as representative of an International Hotel Chain. Mrs. Johnson is also the current chair (2011⁄2012) of the AH&LA. In her role with Carlson, Johnson oversees business development efforts for Carlson Hotels’ select service hotel brands in the Americas including, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and Park Inn.

Philipp Grabensee, Chairman of the Board, Afilias Ltd, Dublin, Ireland, as representative of the Domain Name Industry. Afilias is a global provider of Internet infrastructure services that connect people to their data. Afilias’ reliable, secure, scalable, and globally available technology supports a wide range of applications including Internet domain registry services and Managed DNS.
Accountability

The Accountability mechanisms of the applicant to the Hotel Community include
- A multi-stakeholder staffed Advisory Board that also acts an ombudsman
- A Globally protected Hotel Marks’ List as reserved names to protect community interests
- Distribution of annual reports of the HOTEL Top-Level-Domain Sarl about the .hotel top-level domain within the Hotel Community (planned)
- Educational papers, speeches and other public awareness on the .hotel top-level domain (already on-going)

Similar gTLD applications: (0)