ABOUT THE WORLD TOURISM NETWORK

The WTF Brand will be built via the cooperative placement of a WTF-branded Icon on the websites of destinations, non-profit organizations, and suppliers. The Icon enables the consumer to seamlessly navigate destination and supplier choices and build a travel itinerary.

Unique to the tourism industry, the destination is the core product of tourism. WTN will place each unique destination in the “center of universe” with all suppliers and the rest of the world revolving around them. The WTF Icon provides entry into the WTN’s Destination Navigator relative to the site where it is found. At any point in the Destination Navigator experience (up, down, and around their destination choice) the Visitor can access the site of the most locally recognized Destination Management Organization (DMO) for non-biased destination information. Aligned to each DMO, WTN will provide a non-biased menu of interfaced suppliers serving that destination.

The WTN will network servers to check availabilities and pull live inventory from any one interface path the supplier directs. This may be via a GDS, a Switch, a chain CRS, a tour operator CRS, a destination system, a web-based channel management vendor, or direct from a supplier’s reservation management system. WTN will use industry-created messaging specifications for the interface protocol.

The transaction fee charged to the travel supplier is positioned to be the guaranteed lowest-cost path for distributing their product short of supplier-direct. A supplier can get a significant reduction in their on-going transaction fee by cooperatively displaying the WTF Icon. The more inventory allocated to the WTN the lower the fixed transaction fee. A DMO or any non-profit organization generating a casual click on the WTF Icon will receive accumulating grants from the WTF based on the transaction fees realized from a Visitor’s purchases. DMO Partners are also eligible for Project-Specific Grants.