The top-level domain (TLD) “.voyage” is a generic TLD (gTLD), and as suggested by its name, it’s designed for use by businesses, individuals or organizations associated with travel, tourism, and exploration. This digital real estate allows connection with a vast online audience of travelers and tourists worldwide. This domain extension was delegated to the Root Zone of the Domain Name System on June 13, 2013 by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as part of their New gTLD Program. In simpler words, ICANN, which oversees the entire Internet Namespace, approved the creation and use of “.voyage”.
The “.voyage” TLD is managed by Donuts Inc., a privately held company based in Kirkland, Washington. Donuts Inc. is one of the largest and most successful applicants for new gTLDs overall, and a major player in the domain market.
Like any TLD, “.voyage” requires Domain Name System (DNS) to function. DNS is the phonebook of the internet, translating human-friendly website names into computer-friendly IP addresses. In this complex hierarchy, TLDs like “.voyage” are at the top. When a user enters a URL, the DNS query will first look at the TLD, then proceed to the second-level domain (the ‘example’ in ‘example.voyage’), and so on down the line, until it finds the specific webpage it’s looking for.
Various websites across the globe utilize the “.voyage” extension. For instance, the website www.arctic.voyage offers Arctic cruises, while www.destination.voyage provides a wide array of travel and accommodation services. Each of these sites chose this domain extension to emphasize their commitment to travel and exploration, thus making their website immediately identifiable to potential customers.
To acquire a “.voyage” TLD for a website, an interested party must go through a domain registrar like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Google Domains. The registrars manage the reservation of Internet domain names and assign IP addresses to the respective domain names.
Note that like most other gTLDs, “.voyage” may have specific registration restrictions or requirements, and pricing varies between different domain registrars. Purchase and renewal costs can range anywhere from $20 to over $100 per year.
Sources used:
- ICANN’s List of Delegated Strings (https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings)
- Donuts Inc. (https://donuts.domains/what-we-do/our-domains/)
- How DNS Works (https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-dns/)
- What is a domain registrar? (https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/glossary/domain-registrar/)
- GoDaddy (https://www.godaddy.com/)
- Namecheap (https://www.namecheap.com/)
- Google Domains (https://domains.google.com/m/registrar)
