More and more hotels are using IPTV to not only enhance guest experiences but also to create "incremental advertising revenue with the help of enterprising service providers," according to a story in HospitalityTechDecisions.
HTML5 and a bevy of tech players like LG Electronics, Locatel, Acentic, Swisscom Hospitality Services, Envision, Univision, Guest-Tek and KniTec are collaborating to bring IPTV to about 4 million hotel rooms from "five star to lower end--within the next two to three years," the story said.
The movement is being led by European and Middle Eastern properties but may quickly migrate to North American properties after a short testing period overseas.
"The addition of HTML5 capability to our [LG] Pro:Centric platforms enables integrated smart applications to link Wi-Fi mobile devices, tablets and room TVs," explained Richard Lewis, senior vice president of research and technology at LG's Zenith U.S. R&D subsidiary.
IPTV benefits the hotel in two ways. First, of course, it's always a good idea to enhance the guest experience.
"While hoteliers aren't actively marketing IPTV[-related capabilities], guests appreciate such features as receiving direct personalized messages, wake-up calls, enriched graphical city guides and location maps and live news feeds with highly intuitive access on both TV and mobile devices," said Antoine Trannoy, CTO of France's Locatel.
In the future, however, IPTV may become essential to promoting the hotel's brand and, for service providers eager to get into a new market, expanding advertising potential via apps delivered to hotel guests.
"Hotel operators," Zenith's Lewis concluded, "honestly are very much interested in the capabilities that IPTV's and HTML5 deliver, much more than they're interested in the intricacies of the technology itself."
One of those capabilities is enhanced revenue via partner advertising. In that arena, Honolulu-based KniTec cuts deals with hotels for digital billboards spotlighting on-site amenities and services, remote portal monitoring and other services. In exchange, hotels receive up to 30 percent of advertising revenue from what KniTec sells.
"Regardless of their property size or star ratings, hoteliers are looking to enhance the overall guest experience, providing pertinent information about their hotels and, in the case of smaller facilities, nearby off-site amenities," KniTec Marketing Director Ashley Weder said. "Added revenue through advertising and other means is especially important to smaller properties, which we feel will continue to drive demand for our services."
For more:
- HospitalityTechDecisions has this story
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