Yes, a Top-Level Domain (TLD) is the highest level in the hierarchical structure of the Internet’s domain name system (DNS), first established in the 1980s by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), following the recommendations of Jon Postel. The TLD is the last part of the domain name, and traditionally denotes the nature – generic or regional – of the website associated with the domain name. Common examples of TLDs are .com, .org, .net, .gov, .edu, and regional ones like .in, .uk, .us, etc., as explained by ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
The specific TLD .holiday, which was introduced as part of ICANN’s New gTLD Program, falls under the category of “generic” TLDs (gTLDs), which are open for registration by any interested party. Among other things, the .holiday TLD can be used by travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, airlines, travelers, and bloggers to create domain names reflecting the theme of holidays and vacation-related content. These have the advantage of providing instant context to potential website visitors even before they visit the site, something referred to by registry Radix’s website.
For instance, a tour operator specializing in beach holidays could acquire a domain name like tropical.holiday, instantly communicating the nature of their business. Or a blogger chronicling their worldwide travels could choose a domain name like nomadic.holiday, signaling to visitors that their site is filled with holiday adventures. Registrants can obtain such domain names from a variety of domain name registrars, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc., as corroborated by the ICANN Registrar Directory.
The development of new gTLDs like .holiday is seen as a means of expanding and diversifying the domain name space to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for meaningful and relevant domain names. However, with this expansion comes some potential challenges, as reflected in a 2016 report by EURid and the Leuven Statistics Research Centre. They found that new gTLDs, including .holiday, had lower DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) usage and higher rates of domain name parking (i.e., registered but unused or underused domain names) than traditional TLDs. Registrants should therefore consider these potential challenges when selecting a new gTLD like .holiday.
Sources:
1. ICANN: Beginner’s Guide to Domain Names. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/beginners-guides-2012-02-25-en
2. Registry Radix: Importance of Domain Names. https://registry.radix.website/blog/importance-of-domain-names
3. ICANN Registrar Directory. https://www.internic.net/regist.html
4. EURid & the Leuven Statistics Research Centre: “2016 EURid-Universiteit Leuven DNSSEC and New gTLD Study”. https://eurid.eu/media/filer_public/ee/2f/ee2f9eaf-5d00-4587-830a-15f3d25d47dd/dnssec_full_report_01.pdf
