eHotelier Newsletter

BEYOND THE ULTIMATE DEVICE: FROM “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE” TO “ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE”

As the convergence of communications, computing and content speeds ahead, it is easy to conclude that these three elements will come together into a single, powerful "ultimate device" that gives us access to a wealth of information and services. Not surprisingly, there has been a lot of discussion about just what that ultimate device will be: a kind of hyper-personal digital assistant (PDA)? A digital Web phone/computer? An extremely thin Internet client?

The answer, however, is likely to be "none of the above." Instead of a single ultimate super device, we can expect to see many small "families" of linked devices that are designed to perform specific tasks in specific situations. Yes, powerful hand-held convergence devices will continue to come to market, but the truly significant developments in technology—the real ultimate device—will be in this arena of decentralized, pervasive computing.

Why? Because the shrinking cost and growing power of technology frees us from having to think in terms of one "computing engine" driving various applications and peripherals. Instead, we can afford to put smaller computing engines into a wide range of everyday items including appliances, tools, houses, clothing and nearly everything else around us. In short, we won't have to have the ultimate device with us—it will be all around us.

In the next few years, we will see an explosion of pervasive computing in two broad categories: embedded devices and wearable devices.

Embedded devices, as the name implies, will be sensors and processors incorporated into objects—furniture, books, display advertisements, office supplies, containers, roads, vehicles, consumer electronics and so forth. These objects will be able to interact with their environment, with people and with each other, and work in combination to support highly specialized devices—a smart refrigerator that knows when you are out of milk, for example, or a smart wardrobe that tells you when our favorite retailer is having a sale on brands you like.

Along those lines, Accenture researchers have developed a prototype "online medicine cabinet" that is, essentially, an in-home personal health portal. The cabinet will alert the user if he or she is taking the wrong medication, monitor blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol level, and let the user consult with a physician or refill prescriptions online. This cabinet demonstrates how common products will be turned into channels that deliver services to consumers at the time and place of need.

The "wearable" category will encompass a loosely coupled network of devices including microphones, earphones, displays, biosensors, global positioning satellite receivers, keyboards, cameras, short-range radar arrays, ultrasonic range finders and bar code readers—a mix of components that can vary depending on the user's profession or personal interests. Some of these devices may be carried like today's cell phones, but increasingly, we will see devices embedded in clothing, jewelry, eyeglasses and shoes—or even installed subcutaneously. (While that may sound unlikely, at least one consumer electronics company is rumored to be working on an implantable cell phone.)

These wearable components will communicate with one another via a short-range wireless network, perhaps harnessing the user's own skin to transfer data; indeed, several such technologies are in development. Advanced input devices—such as arm-mounted chording keyboards and voice-recognition systems—and small displays—such as eyeglass-mounted retina-projection displays—will make it easy to use the technology while doing other things such as walking, driving and working.

We are already seeing elements of wearable computing in the lab and, in some cases, the marketplace. Georgia Institute of Technology has produced a lightweight "smart shirt" designed for the remote monitoring of combat soldiers' vital signs and injuries. Similarly, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used conductive textiles to develop machine-washable "e-broidery" circuits in clothing including keyboards built into denim jackets. To power small, wearable components, they've also developed a shoe that "harvests" the motion of walking to create a small electric current.

As this trend toward embedded and wearable devices continues, computing will become infused into the environment. We will no longer have to look through a small screen to interact with technology. The services we use will rely on the infrastructure in our environment to sense our context. They will know where we are, and what we're seeing and hearing; they will be all around us, working unobtrusively to sense needs and changes, and triggering actions in response.

For businesses, this will bring new meaning to serving the customer on an "anytime, anywhere" basis, and open up a range of possibilities for new products and services. Accenture researchers see three broad categories companies should be using to envision customer scenarios and visualize products and services.

For example, companies might offer continuous medical monitoring with trend detection and automatic emergency dispatch as well as autobiographical logging services that transmit the customer's first-person video to a secure site for later search and retrieval.

Think about video "help desk" services that let human experts see what you see—be it an overheated car engine, a troubling rash, or a clashing outfit in the mirror—and provide instant advice.

For example, a company might provide synchronized information to "annotate" what we see by pulling information from both nearby objects and remote databases via the network. If the user's gaze lingers on a car, for example, the provider could quickly pull up the vehicle's specifications and prices and, perhaps, present an attractive lease offer from the manufacturer. In addition, providers might even subsidize various smart devices in much the same way that today's wireless phone companies subsidize the purchase of phones.

Today, companies can start preparing for embedded and wearable devices by considering how they might augment their existing products with new services. This includes:

To thrive in this new era of small, linked, pervasive "ultimate devices," companies will have to understand that virtually every object will be a conduit for a service, and people will routinely expect products to be bundled with services and helpful information. These devices will change the way we relate to the world around us—and the companies that learn to exploit that new reality will find a wealth of new avenues for reaching and retaining customers.

Anatole Gershman is a partner and director of Accenture Technology Labs - Research. He is based in Chicago, Illinois

PATA is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Peter A. Semone as Vice President for Development. At the same time, Ms. Lyn Hikida has been promoted to Vice President of Operations from her previous role as PATA’s Chief Communications Officer. Effective immediately, both positions are based at PATA Headquarters in Bangkok.

Mr. Semone will be responsible for the Association’s membership development and retention programmes, working closely with PATA’s regional directors and other staff to expand the value and benefits of PATA membership.

“We are delighted to welcome Peter Semone to the team,” said Mr. Peter de Jong, President and CEO of PATA. “He is a talented individual who has demonstrated a real commitment to quality in Pacific Asia travel and tourism. Peter’s wide range of travel industry experience, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, make him the ideal person for this key leadership position.”

Prior to joining PATA, Mr. Semone served as Managing Director of PT. Bali Triloka Candra, an Indonesia-based destination management company. A resident of Asia for more than a decade, he co-founded a number of adventure tourism enterprises in Indonesia in the early 1990s. Mr. Semone has worked as an analyst for Horwath Asia Pacific in Hong Kong SAR, and has been a frequent visiting lecturer in destination management and tourism economics at the Institute For Tourism Studies in Macao. As a PATA member, Mr. Semone has served on the PATA Board of Directors, Industry Council, Vision 2025 and Banten task forces, and as Chairman of the Education Committee. Mr. Semone holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MMH in Tourism Development from Cornell University’s School of Hospitality Management.

In her new role as Vice President of Operations, Ms. Hikida will oversee the areas of communications, membership administration and information technology.

“These two appointments are part of a multi-phase restructuring for PATA,” said Mr. de Jong. “Our priority is to enhance services for our members while making the most of our available resources.”

This month, PATA will release the “E-Fare Snapshot: A Profile of Electronic Air Fares from Los Angeles to 10 Pacific Asia Destinations: April 2002.” The purpose of the report is to assess and compare air fares available through electronic travel agencies from Los Angeles to select destinations in Asia. The report shows that consumers are increasingly reliant upon e-fares to determine and choose destinations and airlines. The report costs US$100 for PATA members and US$250 for PATA Chapters and non-members. For further information or to order a copy, e-mail: publications@pata.th.com.

After a great success in 2001, the PATA Switzerland Chapter is again organising a PATA stand at TTW in Montreux, Switzerland, October 29-31, 2002. The stand provides participating members with a cost-effective promotional opportunity. Participation is priced from CHF600. For more information please contact Ms. Silvia Engeler at s.engeler@dplanet.ch or Mr. Roland Schmid at roland.schmid@tui.ch.

PATA members who are interested in participating in the 2002 edition of PATA's “See You in Pacific Asia” advertising supplement have until May 31 to request advertising space. The supplement will reach more than 5 million US consumers when it appears next September in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and National Geographic Traveler. For details please contact Mr. Bill Hastings, Managing Director-PATA Americas Division: bill@pata.org. Or contact Mr. Paul Cohen at Enten & Associates: paul@enten.com.

Professor David Bellamy, famed botanist, broadcaster and author, will deliver the Keynote Address at the 1st PATA Sustainable Tourism Conference in Banten, Western Java, Indonesia, October 23-26, 2002. The event will offer a mix of business development, education and destination familiarisation through plenary and breakout sessions, an off-site workshop with audit exercises and a tabletop session featuring some of the region’s most unique sustainable projects. Visit www.pata.org for registration forms, airline discounts, programme information and tour details. E-mail: pstc@pata.th.com.

The Chairman of the PATA France Chapter, Mr. Jaime Serrano-Guerra, is organising a “visioconference” to take place simultaneously in Paris and Bangkok on May 23. The 90-minute event is designed to promote Thailand to the French outbound travel market. For more information, e-mail: serrano_guerra@compuserve.com

All PATA members in good standing are entitled, and encouraged, to use the PATA logo on letterhead, business cards, Web sites, brochures and other forms of collateral. Logos may be downloaded after logging into the members-only area of PATAnet (http://www.pata.org/frame.cfm?pageid=13). Or contact communications@pata.th.com for assistance.

* The Philippines announced it will spearhead an initiative to launch a joint tourism promotion between the 10-member ASEAN and three Northeastern Asian countries: Korea (ROK), Japan and China (PRC). The initiative would include pooling advertising budgets among members to promote tourism in the region as a whole.

* The revolutionary FS8-Flightship, the world’s first commercial flying boat, has been introduced by its Australia-based developer. The company claims the FS8 is half the cost of a comparable airplane, cheaper to run and four or five times faster than a boat of similar size, reaching about 170 kilometres per hour at two metres above sea level. The first four crafts will be exported in an AU$6.5-million deal to the Maldives in September and another 15 are marked for the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and a number of Pacific nations.

* China (PRC) has leaped ahead of Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom in terms of home Internet access and is now second to the U.S. Approximately 56 million people can access the Internet from home -- an amazing figure considering that only 36 percent of homes in China (PRC) have telephone lines, and that half of its population lives on less than US$2 a day. With Internet subscription rates growing at five to six percent monthly, more than 250 million Chinese may have online access from home in only three or four years.

* A new airport security device unveiled at the Singapore air show sucks microscopic particles from the bodies of air passengers for instant analysis. The walk-through machine propels a jet of compressed air upon the passenger’s body, dislodging tiny particles, and then vacuums the particles up for analysis by a trace detection unit. The machine is designed to detect passengers who are intending to wear explosive devices onto the airplanes.

* Korea (ROK) has launched its “Security Tourism Train,” a rail link that runs up to the border with DPR Korea, about 55 kilometres north of Seoul. The Dorasan Station in DPR Korea and the 11-kilometre stretch of railroad leading up to it were built after a 2000 agreement between the two countries to re-establish the rail link. Reconnecting the countries by rail would not only help bring the Korean people together, but also deepen trade by establishing a land link between Korea (ROK) and China (PRC), Siberia, Central Asia and Europe.

Greater price consistency among the hotel industry means consumers are less likely to see huge savings they once enjoyed when booking online according to a survey by KPMG.

The findings in the ‘Hotels and the Internet 2002’ show corporate customers have seen the savings made by booking online fall from an average of £12.50 in 2001 to £3.75 in 2002. The survey points to hotel websites becoming just another booking channel with little incentive for corporate travellers to benefit commercially from booking online.

Forty five per cent of those hotels surveyed had a consistent pricing policy across their websites, central reservation systems and booking direct. This compares to just 18 per cent in 2001. However, while 55 per cent of branded hotel websites still offer the cheapest way of booking, customers can get the same cost savings by calling the hotel direct or booking via central reservations. Only one hotel website offered online bookers the outright cheapest rate, and another hotel website proved the most expensive channel.

KPMG surveyed eleven of the major international hotel brands including Hilton, Holiday Inn, Jurys, Marriott, Millennium & Copthorne, and Thistle, from the viewpoint of an independent corporate traveller. The results were compiled by examining the price differences when booking mid-week either via the hotel website, calling the hotel direct or via its central reservations system.

Since the survey began in 1999, the findings highlight the rapid change in the hotel industry with branded hotel websites penalising corporate customers for booking online and offering the highest room prices in 1999; the industry’s recognition of the internet’s potential as a distribution channel and offering the consumer significant rewards by booking online in 2001; to the industry’s move towards greater price consistency this year and raising questions as to whether cost savings on the internet can be realised.

The majority of hotel websites have improved since the last survey with the introduction of multi-language sites and the implementation of e-customer relationship management. Fifty per cent of hotels are now able to distinguish their website visitors enabling them to collect commercial data from customers. However, hotels in general continue not to realise the potential of online partnerships which would further improve site content and drive online revenue.

Nick Pattie, director of hospitality at KPMG team said: “The ‘wow’ factor of booking online is diminishing. The industry must analyse if managing online bookings brings any cost savings and whether it can capitalise any revenue generation opportunities; or if managing numerous booking channels, be it online or offline, is eroding potential e-savings for both the industry and consumers alike.

“As the internet matures, hotels will have to continue to find innovative ways of appealing to the traveller online. One hotel chain, for example, is offering to give a 10 per cent reduction on the price of its internet room rate if a cheaper rate can be found elsewhere on the internet. Other hotel chains may jump on the band wagon and replicate these offers to vie for business.”

DUBAI: THE HOTEL SHOW DRAWS MAJOR LINE-UP OF SUPPLIERS

Exhibitors from around the world prepare to showcase incredible range of products, services under one roof.

An impressive line-up of 176 overseas and Middle East exhibitors will assemble in Dubai next week for The Hotel Show, the specialised hotel supplies showcase to the hospitality industry.

With major Middle East hotel development creating thousands of supplier opportunities, exhibitors will be bidding for their share of business worth millions of dollars at the three-day exhibition, organised by Streamline Marketing and taking place at Airport Expo Dubai from May 20-22

The Hotel Show, which is held under the patronage of H.H.General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE Minister of Defense, and Chairman of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing was acquired last year by dmg World Media, a subsidiary of FTSE100 company The Daily Mail & General Trust plc.

“We are committed to ensuring The Hotel Show’s continued development, both through investment, and the substantial backing of our parent company, which has unrivalled connections in the exhibitions industry,” said Bernard Walsh, Managing Director of dmg Index Exhibitions Ltd., at today’s official press conference at the Crowne Plaza Dubai.

With the core of its traditional exhibitors returning, The Hotel Show 2002 has been boosted by extraordinary interest from new exhibitors worldwide, reflecting its growing recognition as a major event on the hospitality calendar.

The Show is supported by the Government of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), which provides worldwide exposure for the event through its network of overseas offices with the aim of attracting an increased line up of exhibitors.

“Through our overseas offices, we are actively reinforcing the efforts of organisers to bring the exhibition to the attention of suppliers of the hotel industry from many countries,” said Mohammed K. bin Hareb, Director Operations & Marketing, DTCM. “The Department is pleased to give its full support to The Hotel Show, an event which helps to highlight Dubai’s status as an international exhibition centre in the Middle East.”

“To date, 176 exhibitors from 27 countries are participating in the three-day exhibition,” said Joanne Evans, Director of Streamline Marketing, organisers of the event. “This represents a substantial increase over last year”.

As an added attraction this year, developers will reveal plans for 89 hotels to be built as part of The Palm development, the spectacular $3-billion project in Dubai to construct two islands which will be visible from space, in one of the most ambitious tourism ventures ever undertaken.

“The Hotel Show provides an ideal platform for suppliers to realise the scope and breadth of The Palm development, and for us to network with all aspects of the hospitality industry,” said Saif Sultan Al Shamsi, Managing Director Commercial of Palm Development Company.

Exhibitors include manufacturers in audio visual, video conferencing and sound systems, architecture and building, interior design and supplies, landscaping, uniforms, management and reservations systems, fitness and spa equipment, and dozens of other products and services vital to a hotel’s day-to-day running.

Show visitors will include developers and representatives behind plans to build more than 140 luxury hotels and resorts within the next three to five years, creating 34,000 new hotel rooms in the Middle East region.

Running alongside the Show for the first time will be The Office Exhibition, giving office suppliers a valuable introduction to the rapidly expanding Middle East office development sector.

MORE FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN MYANMAR’S HOTEL PROJECT

eTurbonews.com - Foreign investment in Myanmar's hotel projects, which have been completed and are in operation, has amounted to 585.275 million U.S. dollars, according to the latest figures published by the country's Ministry of Information.

The 25 new hotel projects, implemented since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988 and were completed between 1993 and 2001, include 19 in the capital of Yangon, three in the second largest city of Mandalay, one in the ancient city of Bagan, one each in southern border town of Kawthaung and Tachilek linking Thailand.

Total amount injected in the capital's foreign-invested hotels went to 453.545 million dollars, taking up 77.49 percent of the total. Among them, three Singapore- invested hotels are leading. They are the 450-room Sedona Hotel with an investment of 103.27 million dollars injected by the Straits Steamship Land (Kappel Land Group), the 496-room Traders Hotel with an investment of 84 million dollars injected by the Kuok and Shangri-La and the 359- room Hotel Equatorial with 50 million dollars by the Yangon Investment Ltd. It is followed by a Thai-invested 315-room Nikko Royal Lake Hotel (38 million dollars), a Japanese-invested Yangon Sakura Tower(30 million dollars), Singapore- invested 250-room Summit Parkview Hotel (29 million dollars) and a Thai-invested 208-room Kandawgyi Palace Hotel (27.5 million dollars). Others remain as those built by China's Hong Kong and Macao, France and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, there are 11 more such foreign-invested hotel projects under construction with a total contracted investment of 583.68 million dollars. The official figures also show that there were 498 local private hotels, motels and inns with 11,292 rooms in the country invested mainly with local currencies of 14,417.03 million Kyats ( 30.54 million dollars) as of September 2001. Myanmar drew 182,400 foreign tourists annually in the last five fiscal years, earning about 33.75 million dollars a year. It now has 582 travel agencies. Among the tourists, 70.6 percent were from the Asian continent, 18.5 percent from western Europe, 6.5 percent from America and 4.4 percent from other regions. Myanmar targets to draw 500,000 foreign tourists annually. However, in 2001, tourist arrivals in Myanmar were 119,000, a fall of 49.32 percent from 2000's 234,900, indicating that it accomplished only 23.8 percent of its annual target.

Gulf News - About 26 new properties catering to Dubai's growing hospitality industry are coming up this year, taking the number to 403 hotels and serviced apartments by December, according to a top government official.

"Last year there were 264 hotels and 113 serviced apartment properties," said Mohammed bin Hareb, director, operations and marketing, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). "By the end of this year there will be 26 new properties open in Dubai."

Hareb said, he also believes that the tourism and hotel sector is continually gaining strength.

"I think that this level of construction can be sustained - the number of hotels has increased by 12 per cent since 2000-01."

With this level of development taking place in the UAE - and the rest of the region - the level of interest in the hotel supplies market has grown.

At the Hotel Show, which will be held at Airport Expo Dubai from May 20 to 22, the number of exhibitors has increased by 50 per cent compared to last year.

The three-day exhibition, organised by Streamline Marketing, is attracting a lot of new participators from Europe and the UK.

"The department is pleased to give its full support to the Hotel Show, an event which helps to highlight Dubai's status as an international exhibition centre in the Middle East," said Hareb.

"To date, 176 exhibitors from 27 countries are taking part in the exhibition," added Joanne Evans, director, Streamline Marketing. "This represents a substantial increase over last year."

Running alongside the show will be the first Office Exhibition.

According to organisers of the Office Exhibition, dmg Index Exhibitions, the Gulf's office interiors sector accounts for between 10 to 15 per cent of the region's multi-billion dollar furnishing industry.

"Information drawn from trade statistics indicates that imports in the GCC of furniture, fabrics, lighting and wallcoverings amounted to $2.6 billion in 1999, increasing to $2.8 billion in 2000," said Joe Berger, commercial director, dmg Index.

"Whilst it's difficult to accurately calculate the percentage which relates to office furniture and interiors, an estimated figure of around 10 to 15 per cent can be assumed for this sector."

And dmg Index say the market is heading for further growth with Dubai Municipality alone reporting that 730 multi-storey buildings are under construction within the emirate.

"The market is highly competitive given the huge amount of activity within the construction industry," said Berger.

The Office Exhibition, which will be held at Airport Expo Dubai from May 20 to 22, will include companies from 15 countries across Europe, Far East, Middle East and Russia.

This Global Hotel Network® Report takes a look at "The State of the Caribbean Hospitality Industry" from the perspective of John Bell, Director General and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA). He explains:

The impact of the September 11th. tragedies in New York and Washington masked the larger danger to Caribbean tourism of a recession in the United States, with the inevitable knock on effect this had on all our other source markets.

Lay offs, short weeks, furloughs and wage cuts were prevalent throughout the last quarter of 2001 with occupancies falling between 15%-40% depending on market composition and airlift. More dangerously, discounting became prevalent and participating hotels have found it difficult to raise prices when the winter season began in mid-December.

If a tragedy of these dimensions had to occur, September, with many resorts closed for annual renovations, was probably the best possible time. The key issue was whether there would be a significant bounce back in time for us to take advantage of the high season demand (Xmas to Easter). In the event, recovery fell short of our hopes and expectations.

Out of these turbulent times came a long overdue recognition by Caribbean governments that tourism was fundamentally critical to the economy of virtually every country in the region. As a consequence, CARICOM convened a Summit Conference on Tourism in Nassau on December 11th - 12th.

From these deliberations came the twin decisions for government to participate in a $16 million private sector led initiative to market the Caribbean brand in North America, and the development of a strategic approach to the structural management of tourism in the Caribbean over the next 5 years.

Perhaps as a consequence of these public/private sector cooperative initiatives, we are beginning to see a much more interactive approach to the management and marketing of tourism at the national level throughout the region, with the private sector at last being recognized as a legitimate and valuable partner, not only by government but also by the International Donor Agencies.

With indications for a 3rd. quarter recovery, we anticipate that this summer will continue to be challenging, but that business will begin to improve by late fall, and that our 2002/3 Winter season will be much more healthy.

The globalhotelnetwork.com SPECIAL REPORT is a regular feature of the weekly globalhotelnetwork.com e-Newsletter read by Top Tier decision makers in the global hospitality & travel industry. http://www.globalhotelnetwork.com/public/ghn.e_newsletter.html

Dusit Thani Hotels & Resorts' website Dusit.Com received "The High In The Sky Award” Gold Seal by The CPSnet Web Awards recently. The CPSnet Web Award Committee is a non-profit website evaluator giving recognition to outstanding websites for overall excellence in content, design and implementation.

"Dusit.Com judging from the nature of its content and for the quality of the design and implementation, presents an undeniable excellence that puts it well above the remaining ones, making it worthy of being publicly designated as an example to be followed as a source of true knowledge and information,” a spokesman for The CPSnet Web Awards said

Dusit.Com Hotel & Travel Network, completely revamped and re-launched late last year, allows site visitors to build their own business and/or holiday itineraries online. In addition, Dusit.Com provides access to a comprehensive Thailand destination guide conveniently broken down by region, up-to-date calendar of events, virtual tours of the properties, and other interesting recommendations. Special offers from Dusit and Royal Princess Hotels & Resorts are available to worldwide travelers on a regular basis.

The site visitors can also subscribe on-line to Dusit-E News for the latest information, special offers and promotions. Dusit Web Site and Dusit-E Newsletter will soon go multi lingual adding Thai and Japanese, to effectively localize all features, contents and services.

Newsletter - May 16, 2002