The issue of the focal accentuation of contextually ‘given’ travel domain concepts in task-related Swedish dialogues is examined. An explanation for this focal accentuation is proposed using concepts within Centering theory, i.e. it is assumed that it is domain-related ‘Backward Centers’ that are associated with the prominent focal accents. The variation in the timing of the focal H¯ is further accounted for by relating it to different orderings of the Optimality theory Align XP and constraints with respect to Align Focus. Support for the theoretical assumptions is obtained from a perception test using constructed manmachine Initiative-Response dialogues where the ‘machine’ Responses vary as to the type of F0 contour on the Backward Centers (focal vs non-focal and early vs. late timing of the focal H¯).