The move followed the launch of Voyager, a weekend travel and adventure/discovery series, which allowed the BBC to target "viewers with an adventurous nature", said Carolyn Gibson, regional sales director (Europe, Middle East and Asia).
Airlines, including Emirates and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, have started advertising on the BBC. Emirates is running a global campaign on the channel, through a specially-produced series of short form 50-second features.
The tailored campaigns profile a range of unusual tourist attractions in popular spots such as London, Sydney, Dubai and Singapore.
Other sponsorships include Kerala Tourism, KLM and UBS, in conjunction with the Americas Cup 2003.