‘Push the red button for profit’

THE travel industry has been urged to jump on the interactive TV bandwagon made popular by reality shows such as Big Brother.

Speaking at technology forum Toward Europe’s first meeting of 2006, advertising guru Graham Hawkey-Smith said the sale of travel is perfect for interactive TV as it improves on the experience of searching for a holiday online through the computer.

Hawkey-Smith, managing director of Smarter Communications, said consumers would use interactive TV for both researching and booking holidays. “The red button has been made popular by reality TV shows,” Hawkey-Smith said.

He has worked alongside BSkyB to develop an interactive screen keyboard to help replicate the online experience through the TV.

“I would like to book a holiday from my sofa,” he said. “It saves me from having to get up and sit on an old office chair to use the computer.

“You can put a lot of content from the web on to interactive television including images, and it can take credit-card details. It can be the perfect website.”

Hawkey-Smith cited delivery pizza firm Domino’s Pizza, a former client of his from his time at BLM Media, that has used interactive TV as an extra distribution channel.

He said 12% of the firm’s sales are now generated from the Internet and interactive TV.

Paul Richer, senior partner at travel technology consultancy Genesys said Microsoft is developing a desktop for the television that would allow the Internet to be viewed via the television.

“Viewing the web through the television is as exciting as interactive television via BskyB,” he said.

Richer said it would also be cheaper than interactive TV as it would work off existingbroadband connections.