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NASHVILLE / SAN FRANCISCO – September 27, 2005
Obtaining travel documents will now be easier than ever for millions of
Americans planning international travel. Two of the leading expediters of
travel documents have combined forces to make
ordering passports, visas and
birth certificates as simple as going to the Internet.
VitalChek®, the leading birth certificate processor, and Zierer Visa
Service (ZVS), the leading
passport and visa expediter, today announced the launch of
OfficialTravelDocuments.com.
A recent survey of Americans indicates that international travel, particularly
for leisure, continues to rise. Plus, a record number of nearly 62 million U.S.
travelers went abroad last year, up 10 percent from 2003, according to the U.S.
Department of Commerce. Interestingly, while the number of Americans who travel
outside U.S. borders is climbing, the number of those who have
passports remains at a low 20 percent.
An estimated 21 million Americans will travel to and from the Caribbean, Mexico
and Bermuda this year. They are not required to have a
passport – now. However, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 requires all Americans to have a
passport by 2008 to reenter the United States from any other country in
the Western Hemisphere. The first two phases of the initiative include the
Caribbean, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada and Central and South America. This will
create an enormous increase in demand for passports. In fact, as the number of
travelers continues to increase and the requirement for passports becomes a
reality, the demand is expected to reach an all time high.
Together, VitalChek and ZVS support OfficialTravelDocuments.com with more than
70 years of experience in the travel document industry. Until now, this
industry has been fragmented with the majority of companies being “mom and pop”
travel document expediters. OfficialTravelDocuments.com offers a secure,
direct-to-government service that will provide travelers with passports, visas
and birth certificates in as little as 24 hours after receipt of the documents
from the traveler.
“Our research proves that there is a real need for a robust
travel document Web site with staying power,” said Deslie Webb Quinby,
VitalChek vice president. “It is crucial for travelers to feel confident and
comfortable that they will receive their personal documents in a timely manner
and through secure means.”
OfficialTravelDocuments.com will be a “one-stop shop” for all travel document
needs including helpful information and step-by-step instructions on how to
obtain travel documents. Orders are tracked online and the site offers a team
of specialists for personalized service. Unlike other sites,
OfficialTravelDocuments.com allows customers to place orders online using a
credit card. Also, it does not outsource to couriers, and its employees are
certified, U.S.-based representatives.
About VitalChek
VitalChek, a ChoicePoint® company, is the leading source for the remote
ordering of birth certificates and other vital records. The benchmark of
VitalChek's business operations is its ability to link Americans with the
state, county or city agencies that house their personal vital records –
specifically, certified copies of birth, death, marriage and divorce
certificates. With more than 250 network affiliates nationwide, the expedited
delivery and payment processing of more than 25,000 certified vital record
documents each week. VitalChek, with headquarters in Nashville, provides
service in all 50 states as well as British Columbia, Canada. Neither VitalChek
nor ChoicePoint has access to vital records; rather, VitalChek facilitates the
order and fulfillment of vital records by the government agencies that maintain
them.
About Zierer Visa Service
Founded in 1954, ZVS is the most experienced and well-established passport and
visa company of its kind in the world. More than one million travelers have
used ZVS to secure necessary documentation to travel to destinations around the
globe. With current offices located throughout the U.S. and London, ZVS is the
leader in its industry and committed to providing the most professional and
expeditious service for its clients’ travel documentation needs. The company is
based in San Francisco.
VitalChek and ChoicePoint are registered trademarks and
OfficialTravelDocuments.com is a service mark of ChoicePoint Asset Company.
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American Society of Travel Agents
