18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

We expect that the proposed .hilton gTLD will benefit Internet users and others if we are able to provide consumers with a secure and authentic experience when searching for and booking accommodations online. We anticipate that HLT and its Affiliates will be the only registrants and users of second-level names in the .hilton gTLD registry.

i. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

The goals of the proposed .hilton registry are to provide Internet users and consumers who use our hilton.com website with a trustworthy and secure online experience, to protect the famous Hilton brand, and to promote Hilton.

Hilton is the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels. For 93 years, Hilton has offered business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands. Its brands are comprised of more than 3,800 hotels and timeshare properties, with 630,000 rooms in 88 countries and include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company also manages the world-class guest reward program Hilton HHonors®. For more information about the company, visit www.hiltonworldwide.com.
In fact, Hilton and all properties in its global portfolio achieved ISO 9001:2008 Certification for Quality Management and ISO 14001:2004 Certification for Environment Management, which is one of the largest ever volume certifications of commercial buildups across any industry.

Additionally, Hilton has received a number of awards attesting to our reputation and the importance we place on offering the highest quality services. Such awards include “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities,” “Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity,” “People’s Choice for Sales & Customer Service,” “Best of the Best 2010 - Top Hospitality Companies,” “Hotel Company of the Year,” and, among many others, “Favorite Customer Service in Leisure and Tourism.”

The service levels and reputation of our proposed .hilton TLD will be commensurate with everything that our guests and the general public have come to expect from the Hilton brand. We anticipate that our .hilton TLD will provide another platform through which we can actualize our corporate mission of being the preeminent global hospitality company - the first choice of guests, team members, and owners alike.

ii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

We anticipate that our proposed .hilton gTLD has the potential to add competition to the current space if Internet users and consumers come to recognize and rely upon the .hilton TLD as a sign of authenticity that a .hilton website is associated with, created by, and controlled by us, and the greater security that may come with this authenticity. Our proposed .hilton gTLD will be differentiated from the current space because there are no .brand registries operated by the brand owner – let alone a .brand registry in the hospitality industry. We look forward to the opportunity to use a .hilton gTLD to build a unique platform for all of our brands. In time, we hope that the opportunity to operate a .hilton gTLD registry will create a foundation on which we can create further innovations designed to enhance the authenticity, security, and safety of consumers who wish to search for and book accommodations at a Hilton-portfolio property.

iii. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

Hilton’s guests, Hilton HHonors members, and the general public expect that they can trust the principal Hilton website (located at www.hilton.com) to locate and book accommodations and meeting space, to check their HHonors points and redeem rewards, and to obtain travel guides for many destinations. Having the option to operate a .hilton gTLD registry will allow us to provide consumers with easier, more intuitive access to all Hilton services. In addition, we are hopeful that a .hilton registry will give us the opportunity to enhance for Internet users the reliability, trustworthiness, and security of their online interactions with us. We anticipate that the proposed .hilton gTLD will enhance our flexibility to transform and extend our online presence globally to reflect the changing needs of our guests and the traveling public.

iv. Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

We intend to implement a .hilton Domain Name Policy (the “.hilton Policy”) for the registration and use of .hilton domain names. We expect to update and revise the .hilton Policy to correspond with HLT’s business interests as well as ICANN Consensus Policy and Temporary Policy developments. The .hilton Policy will encompass eligibility requirements to register, use, or control domain name registrations in the .hilton gTLD; naming criteria; and permitted use criteria.

As a threshold matter, only HLT and its Affiliates will be eligible to register, use or control second-level domain names in the .hilton registry.

All .hilton domain names will be verified to ensure that they comply with the naming criteria of the .hilton registry. More specifically, except to the extent that ICANN otherwise expressly authorizes in writing, .hilton domain names shall comply with the following requirements:

- The label “EXAMPLE” will be reserved at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which we make registrations.
- All second-level .hilton domain names must be at least three characters long, unless we reach a specific agreement with a government and country-code manager to register and use a two-character label or our proposal to allow registration and use of such names based on implementation of measures to avoid confusion with the corresponding country codes is approved. No .hilton domain name may be longer than 63 characters.
- All .hilton domain names shall consist only of the letters a - z, the digits 0-9, and a hyphen.
- No .hilton domain name can start or end with a hyphen, but must start and end with an alphanumeric character.
- .hilton domain names shall not include hyphens in the third and fourth position unless they represent valid internationalized domain names in their ASCII encoding (tagging).
- .hilton domain names shall not be country and territory names contained in the internationally recognized lists set forth in Specification 5 to the New gTLD Registry Agreement, unless Hilton reaches agreement with the applicable government(s) or pursuant to review and approval by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee and ICANN.
- .hilton domain names shall not be ICANN-reserved strings.

Hilton will require that the WHOIS data for all .hilton domain names is accurate and complete.
Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) may be supported at the second level.
All .hilton domain names shall be used solely for purposes that are, in Hilton’s judgment and discretion, consistent with its mission statement and core values. .hilton domains may not be used to knowingly infringe, violate, or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

v. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

We strive to deliver outstanding products, services, and experiences everywhere we do business, including online. We value our guests’ business and their loyalty, and we recognize that privacy is an important issue to guests and potential guests who interact with us online.
HLT, the operator of the .hilton registry, is a company organized in England and Wales, and will comply with all applicable data collection and privacy laws. Moreover, Hilton intends to fully comply with the Personal Data obligations outlined in Section 2.17 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement.

Also, describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

Hilton anticipates that it will actively pursue an outreach and communications campaign commensurate with the objectives, standards and policies described in this gTLD application and consistent with a .brand TLD where the registry operator and its Affiliates are the only registrants and users of domain names. Such outreach and communications may be directed to Hilton’s guests, business partners and the general public.

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