Voyage.tv Rolling Out Purchasing Function on Cable Broadcasts

Travel agents will soon face competition from yet another electronic medium as Voyage.tv’s destination programming for cable operators evolves into an interactive technology capable of selling trips with the click of a consumer’s TV remote.

Voyage.tv, which started broadcasting its travel-destination videos on Cablevision in August, is set to debut interactive features this quarter after boosting its potential TV audience by 70 percent within the past four months.

The independent cable channel plans eventually to enable people to use their cable- and satellite-box remote controls to buy travel packages. The technology lets customers reserve travel packages by interacting with the company’s 30-minute hosted shows via video-on-demand services.

Michael McNabb, CEO of New York-based Voyage.tv’s parent, Voyages North America, said the customer will be able to make a nominal reservation fee payment by either going to Voyage.tv’s website or by calling a toll-free number to book the remainder of the trip.

He said the feature would be available to about 3.5 million Cablevision customers in the New York area.

The channel uses wholesaler Mark Travel and its sister company Trisept Solutions to develop high-end travel products based on the videos and to provide call center services.

It started testing its TV programming in July and in August debuted the content in about 20 million homes served by Comcast, Cablevision, Insight Communications, Mediacom Communications, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse and Mag Rack Entertainment. Voyage.tv is now accessible in about 34 million homes and could reach 40 million by the end of March, McNabb said.

Voyage.tv is one of a number of travel-oriented TV programs set to debut interactive features within the next few months. Cruise Shoppes, a consortium of 200 small travel agencies owned by Florida-based Next One Interactive, launched its 30-minute show “Extraordinary Vacations” on DirecTV and Comcast last year. In April, it is set to debut on AT&T and Verizon’s TV services, with interactive features following shortly thereafter.

Such progress is being watched closely by both travel companies and industry analysts attempting to gauge whether video-on-demand will be a viable tool for either lead generation or actual transactions by complementing Internet-based promotions and other media.