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About Marc Budie

During my day job, I am technology director at Quadriga, the trusted partner to many of the world’s leading hotels. I am charged with...

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Are hoteliers making the most of their captive audience?

Posted on: 28-Jul-2010
Source: BBC.co.uk

Source: BBC.co.uk

As I mentioned last month, we recently commissioned some independent research into the habits of UK business travellers and it seems that as many as 68% of respondents do little more than work, sleep and channel hop in their rooms.

This got me thinking, surely this reinforces for hoteliers what a great opportunity they have to promote facilities to this captive audience, who are already spending a significant amount of time using the in-room TV.  The summer of sport  for example, provides a great platform for hoteliers to run themed promotions around key events, via the in-room TV, to entice guests to experience other services within the hotel.

Imagine if you could provide information on where the Tour de France or Golf Open is showing in the hotel, flag up a special offer on golf lessons, or highlight a ‘Taste of France’ dining promotion, via the TV.  By using the TV to effectively market these leisure and restaurant facilities, hoteliers can create additional revenues. In parallel with this, they also engage and improve communication with their guests. 

It’s certainly food for thought!

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Posted in Communication, Guest, Hotels, Technology | No Comments »

Social TV – taking guest satisfaction to the next level

Posted on: 09-Jun-2010

Social tv

I recently read an article by Richard Kastelein discussing why he feels that social TV was born to be in the hotel industry. The piece outlines how technology is a great way to get guests interacting with each other potentially asking other guests for recommendations or suggestions of things to do in the hotel or local area, via a hotel social network. And I would have to agree with Richard.

Over the past 10 years, we have seen the role of the in-room TV evolve from being just a box through which to watch movies and listen to the radio, to a means of pushing information about hotel services and facilities to guests downloading content and providing an alternative revenue stream. Indeed, we are already working with a number of hotels to enable them to offer this enhanced level of service, via our guest communications portal, Sensiq.

For the lucrative 25-45 age group that hotels are targeting, technology is no longer a luxury but a necessity and when staying in a hotel, they expect that little bit extra. With social networking very much on the rise among this age group, as a way of interacting, sharing and recommending anything from the best bars to the latest films, transferring this capability to the hotel rooms seems to be a logical step forward.

And I think there are potential benefits of this type of application to hoteliers. Not only would hotels be providing guests with superior services and social TV content, but they potentially have the opportunity to build demographic profiles (subject to the usual data protection legislation) that could complement data from their loyalty schemes, providing more opportunities to increase guest satisfaction and revenues.

But hey that is just my opinion, and I would be interested to hear your views, and experiences, of social TV. Feel free to comment below.

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Posted in Communication, Entertainment, Guest, Hotels, Interactive, Portal, Promotion, Technology, Television | No Comments »

HOSTEC Europe

Posted on: 24-Mar-2010

Source: www.hostec-europe.com/

My colleague Roy Higgins, regional sales manager for the UK and Ireland, attended this year’s HOSTEC Europe and talks us through his highlights from the event:

It was a great event. Not only did I get the chance to show off Sensiq to the attendees, but I also got to catch up with some old acquaintances.

The main talk of the show was the need for hotels to put the “wow factor” back into their offering and many are planning to do this through the use of technology. The stands of LCD television suppliers were particularly popular, and most GMs and hotel operators seem to think that ‘bigger is better’.

Just 3 years ago it was common for hotels to have a 20 or 23 inch LCD in a room. Fast forward to now, and you’d be hard pushed to find a screen less than 26 inches, and that is in a budget hotel. Five star hotels used to specify 32 inch LCDs now they want anything from 32-44 inches.

Most homes now have the latest LCD, HD-ready technology sitting pride of place in the living room. And with guests expecting hotels to have, at the bare minimum, the same technology as they have at home, it is good to see the industry responding to these evolving needs.

Roy Higgins, regional sales manager for the UK and Ireland at Quadriga.

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Posted in Hotels, Technology, Television | No Comments »

First Sensiq installations

Posted on: 11-Mar-2010

Doubletree by Hilton, Bristol South, Cadbury House

I have some exciting news – two hotels in the UK, Doubletree by Hilton, Bristol South, Cadbury House and Ramada Encore London West – have become the first to install our new communications portal, Sensiq.

Rather than just blowing our own trumpet, I asked the hotels’ general managers for their thoughts:

Mark Hands, group general manager at Doubletree by Hilton Cadbury House, says: “What differentiates us from our competitors is the attention to the detail and added benefits we give our guests. As the premier hotel in the region, we aim to give our guests a unique experience when they stay with us, and Sensiq enables us to offer a much more personalised internet and TV service. We’re also keen to capitalise on the unique promotional tools within the portal to encourage guests to use the on-site spa and leisure club facilities, which will help drive additional revenues.”

Ronald Little, general manager at the Ramada Encore London West, adds: “Guests are used to having the latest technology at their fingertips at home and in the office, and quite rightly expect hotels to keep pace. Sensiq offers them a huge selection of content and a highly intuitive browser-based interface to enable them to quickly and easily access the information and entertainment they are looking for. All in all, it really has ‘wow’ factor.”

It’s a pleasure to work in partnership with these hotels on the very first Sensiq installations, and I look forward to working together with them into the future.

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Posted in Communication, Hotels, Portal, Technology | No Comments »

Business travellers get animated

Posted on: 16-Feb-2010

We’ve just released details of the most watched films and listened to albums of 2009 in 200,000 hotel rooms across Europe, and it makes for interesting reading…

The top ten watched movies through Quadriga’s Genesis internet and entertainment platform in 2009 were:

  1. Madagascar Escape 2 Africa
  2. Quantum of Solace
  3. Angels & Demons
  4. Yes Man
  5. Bolt
  6. The Hangover
  7. Tropic Thunder
  8. Monsters Vs. Aliens
  9. Kung Fu Panda
  10. Bride Wars

And the top ten listened to audio albums through Quadriga’s Genesis platform in 2009 were:

  1. Beyonce, I Am Sasha Fierce
  2. Kings of Leon, Only By The Night
  3. Mariah Carey, The Ballads
  4. Radio 1’s Live Lounge
  5. Pink, Funhouse
  6. Michael Jackson, Dangerous
  7. Roxette, 20 Greatest Songs
  8. Coldplay, Parachutes
  9. R&B Love Songs 2008
  10. 100 Piano Classics

Comedy and animation certainly seem to be the overriding criteria for business travellers when they choose a film, with action thrillers coming a close second. When it comes to music, the divas are leading the way with a bit of rock thrown in for good measure.

I’m not much of a cartoon fan myself to be honest, but Quantum of Solace tops the list of my favourite films of 2009, alongside Star Trek.

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Posted in Content, Digital, Entertainment, Guest, Hotels, Internet, Technology | No Comments »

Sensiq, the intelligent guest portal

Posted on: 18-Dec-2009

Sensiq-original_Ambilight

You may remember us unveiling our next generation technology concept at HTNG Lisbon, back in October. We’ve been busy talking to current customers, other hoteliers and industry analysts in the meantime, and their feedback has been hugely positive. We’re also seeing more column inches devoted to the trend towards more internet content being delivered through the television.

Today, we’re formally launching our new guest communications portal, named Sensiq. You can find a video and lots of information about it over at the Quadriga website.

Our first two Sensiq hotels are up and running in the UK, with more being rolled out in other European territories in the New Year. If you’re interested in discussing the portal and its potential to transform the guest experience, do feel free to contact me directly at marc.budie@quadriga.com.

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Posted in Communication, Content, Guest, Hotels, Next generation, Portal, Technology | No Comments »

“Informative” hotel room TV important to British travellers…and hoteliers?

Posted on: 07-Dec-2009

An interesting piece of research caught my eye last week which revealed that almost two-thirds of British travellers want to use their hotel room TV to access local information including weather updates, tourist attractions, restaurants and bars.

This is exactly consistent with the feedback we’re getting from hoteliers. Their guests expect their in-room TV to deliver more than a selection of movies and TV shows, and an internet-based system – with an intuitive, familiar interface – is the logical means of providing the additional content.

Yet, the article fails to point out the potential opportunities of such a system for hoteliers, in terms of the financial benefits of having increased guest satisfaction and greater loyalty and the creation of new potential commercial opportunities, where the TV can be used to promote and sell hotel facilities and services and drive business objectives.

I’d argue, therefore, that revolutionising the content delivered to travellers is just as important to hoteliers themselves.

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Posted in Communication, Content, Entertainment, Guest, Hotels, Internet, Television | No Comments »

The future of social TV

Posted on: 20-Oct-2009

SPA for blog

Richard Kastelein really hits the nail on the head with his recent article on social TV. I couldn’t agree more that hotels are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from competitors, so using the TV to create a networked society within a hotel is an ideal way of achieving this.

Richard also imagined some perfect scenarios for how our new Next Generation technology platform could be tailored by hoteliers to suit their guests’ business and personal requirements.

For instance, I loved his idea about encouraging guests to access a social network via their in-room TV to build relationships with local strategic partners, or treat it as a digital concierge to find a reliable local taxi driver or the best spa treatment. He also sees a place for entertainment with a good recommendation engine built in – I’m pleased to say that we have also started on that journey too with the hotel’s blockbuster best sellers now appearing as a selection option for guests.

Richard’s visions of social TV are exactly how we expect our hotel customers to use our new portal, and we’re looking forward to sharing even more ideas about how it can be used in the future. Watch this space!

Posted in Community, Digital, Hotels, Intelligence, Network, Next generation, Television | No Comments »

Three for the price of one – could your hotel benefit from a single network?

Posted on: 16-Sep-2009
Source: www.omc.net.au/

Source: www.omc.net.au

During my visits to customer sites, I frequently come across hotels that are running three separate networks to accommodate their telephone, back office system and entertainment, including Wi-fi.

Although the concept of running a singular IP network is being adopted within new build hotels, a large number of European establishments are still running separate networks, often as a result of having several legacy systems in an older property. Although many hoteliers realise the benefits to be had by combining networks, some perceive that network consolidation is expensive and can incur long periods of downtime which may negatively impact the guest experience.

However, when you compare the nominal disruption caused through undertaking the process and consider the increased efficiency and positive Capex saving that operating a single network could have on the profit line of a hotel, the decision should be straightforward. How long can hotels afford to keep running multiple networks?

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Posted in Entertainment, Hotels, Internet, Network, Technology | No Comments »

How to meet the changing needs of tech-savvy hotel guests

Posted on: 03-Aug-2009

Quadriga-018564resized

An article in USA Today caught my eye this week, as it talks about the new generation of tech-savvy hotel guests who bring their own devices into the hotel room.

Laptops are being used, either to bring in content for playback on the big screen – or to stream content directly into the hotel. This trend is being blamed for declining in-room movie revenues.

Yet, this trend could be equally frustrating for guests as well as hoteliers. Given that in Europe the average bandwidth to a hotel is about 4-6Mbps, as soon as one person starts streaming content from the internet, it restricts the available bandwidth for other guests in the building, meaning the guest in the neighbouring room will have a worse experience when, for example, just checking his or her emails. A 4Mbps line can support a maximum of eight guests streaming content from YouTube.

Secondly, the quality of internet-streamed content played through a typical in-room TV screen is vastly reduced – it’s like trying to watch a YouTube video at the cinema. Using a laptop, the mind will be set to internet mode; but on a TV, a guest will expect DVD or even a high definition experience.

So, does this really signal the end of traditional in-room entertainment?

Hoteliers do need to be able to cater for tech-savvy guests, and this involves increased bandwidth which will involve additional investment. But there is still a demand for content, and the market for that content is far from dying. Hotels and suppliers need to be able to evolve their offerings in order to cater to modern content and infrastructure demands  to secure those future revenues.

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Posted in Digital, Entertainment, Hotels, Network, Technology | No Comments »

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