Event space is a key feature of most luxury and high-scale hotels, and as business travelers spark interest in remote conferencing, a space technology can be as crucial as its square footage.
by Catalin Cighi*
Luxury and high-scale hotels now have the opportunity to capitalize on "telepresence," a technology that is expected to enjoy a $1.24 billion global market by 2013. [1] More than an improved version of teleconference, telepresence supposedly creates the illusion that people located in separate cities, countries, or even continents are sitting on the other side of the same table. This amazing technology makes the virtual more tangible through life-size images capable of making eye contact. In addition, telepresence virtually eliminates any noticeable delay in audio and video transmission, creating a meeting environment untapped by the pauses and freezes of traditional teleconferencing equipment.
Over the past 18 months, tech firms like Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and countless smaller competitors have focused on developing and commercializing telepresence around the world. The benefits cited by its promoters include significant savings in travel time and costs. According to The Economist, Cisco managed to reduce its global travel costs by 20%, as well as its negotiation times for acquisitions from a few months to a few days by implementing telepresence to its internal operations. The reduction in air travel translates into lower carbon emissions, something that attributes to telepresence an ecological character. The product essentially targets international corporations and government agencies, but caters to the needs of any organization that relies on important global coordination for its operations.
Investment and benefits
The main challenges for the adoption of this technology are the high initial investment and a cautious consumer base. In the United States, the cost of implementing a single telepresence center costs up to $350,000 and its monthly maintenance, about $18,000. To achieve significant efficiency, a global organization should program at least five telepresence centers at strategic international points. Potential customers question the wisdom of substantial investment in a technology that might not deliver on its promises. Herein lies the opportunity for an international hotel chain. Such a firm is strategically positioned to benefit from the adoption of telepresence, because in advance it enjoys:
1. Presence in the right place: Many high-end international properties are strategically located in political and financial centers and within walking distance of the global corporations and government bodies that constitute the audience that telepresence is targeting.
2. Presence at the right time: telepresence has yet to prove its value and gain strength in the corporate arena; therefore, hotels can offer a low-cost opportunity for potential customers to experience the benefits of the product without the perceived risk of significant financial commitment.
3. The right resources: high-end properties already have the permanent customer service and technical support in place to offer continuous access to their clientele; thus, communication between distant time zones is not a problem.
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The Advantages of Adoption
Benefits of adopting telepresence include:
1. Prestige and character available to the hotel's brand image: to give strength to the illusion of presence, furniture and decoration must be identical in the coordination of telepresence centers. This gives hotels the opportunity to promote their image through unique design elements among a select and captive audience.
2. Induced demand: Although this technology is offered as an alternative to long-distance travel, we expect regional travel for telepresence meetings to generate hotel nights and ancillary demand for the host property.
3. Potential tax benefits from the adoption of environmentally friendly technology (as well as a better public image for "green" operations).
4. Higher income: Income from renting the facility can be significant. Given the global audience, the power utilization of a single center is 24 hours a day. Given the scale of hotels located in financial or government districts, as well as the high-scale white market, the potential index is quite promising.
We have only approached the concept of telepresence as a source of income for high-end hotels, and a larger goal of this article is to present, through this example, an imminent paradigm shift in the accommodation industry. Technological evolution will allow hotels to realize a neglected potential and become a meeting place for new products and potential consumers. Future articles will explore this horizon in greater detail and submit other possible applications for consideration.
To read more about telepresence:
http://www.telepresenceworld.com/
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7060/index.html
http://www.hp.com/halo/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepresence
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