By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri
The world is moving on a technological revolution that is finding manifestation in all aspects of the hospitality industry. While all services and products need to be upgraded according to the new parameters that the tech tools are offering today, the challenge is most obviously felt in the availability of conference and meeting tools in hotels today, across the country.
“The way people work is changing. The world today is more social, more mobile, more global and more collaborative and these trends are reshaping work and the business of meetings,” explains Abhay Singh, director of events, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. “Trends today aim to help meeting planners and hotel associates collaborate on event creation by sharing of tips, trends, and inspirational visuals to spark creativity. We value guest inputs to design custom events as well as share images on social media sites, such as Facebook. If a planner is looking to hold a training class, for example, the planner and a hotel’s event manager can collaborate to create the right kind of environment that would promote higher learning engagement and retention.”
With conferences being a part of everyday work life for many corporates and entrepreneurs across the country, the offerings from a hotel have to match the needs of the guests at all times. According to Sanzeev Bhatia, general manager, The Metropolitan Hotel and Spa, New Delhi, “A well-designed, well-equipped and highly functional conference room can make a massive impression on visitors. The key is to look past traditional room designs and imagine how a mix of latest technology innovations can turn these valuable resources into dynamic communication hubs. The idea is to quickly link people together to brainstorm ideas, solve problems and improve decision-making. Organisations have long known that they could improve productivity by bringing more people together in meetings. But now, with video conferencing and video-ready mobile devices, they can extend collaboration capabilities even more.
Today’s conferencing technology can draw people in no matter where in the world they happen to be at meeting time — as long as they have access to a standard business-class network or viable Internet access.”
The main tools being used by clients are iPads, Wi-Fi connections, laptops and video conferencing networks. Singh adds a sound AV system for videos and photography to the list. “Not only tools, we also rethink spaces, including boardrooms, breakouts, pre-function and ballroom spaces. Guests also look at alternate spaces — we are working on curating meetings at the pool side, spa meeting sessions and standup meetings too,” he adds.
Agrees Prakash Viswanathan, director of sales and marketing, JW Marriott Bengaluru: “There has been a sharp growth in terms of newer technologies being introduced in the market as well as their adoption by consumers. This trend has lent itself to the concept of meetings as well and has resulted in traditional styles being replaced with new and innovative approaches. The focus in terms of organising conferences has shifted from the availability of venue to the availability of latest technology. With MICE being one of the key offerings at JW Marriott Bengaluru, we try to be wellequipped and constantly updated with
evolving trends and demands in the market be it in tools ranging from tablets, to large screens, meeting-specific apps, projectors and other portable technologies.”
He further adds that with internet playing an indispensable role in today’s professional world, guests demand fast and uninterrupted wireless connectivity with high bandwidth. “Since most meetings are centred around presentations, guests inevitably require large screens with stateof-the-art projectors that support live screening or video conferencing. They also look out for portable technologies such as tablets that contain apps such as ones that manage, and share information, solicit meeting feedback or even organise the travel plans of attendees,” says Viswanathan.
With the world coming closer to the handheld devices than ever before, there are constant changes that need to be monitored when providing conferencing and meeting tools to guests. Singh says that guest prefer mobile apps, smartphones for updates, e-tools, custom web pages, ResLink and microsites (online meetings module). “There are plenty of gadgets available in today’s market. But these come with a price tag attached. It depends on individual companies if they have the budget to take it forward and execute the setup. Small groups (fewer than 40 people) are looking to network and collaborate. They are looking for ways to be more productive within their space.
Large groups, meanwhile, are looking for better ways to connect over a two- or three-day conference. Technology can play a major role in all of these goals, being able to provide a platform where the customer can get content out to attendees — that’s something that’s evolving throughout the industry. So, good internet speed is a must today,” he says.
Bhatia says that in these exciting times, technology is moving at a fast pace.
“There are thousands of ideas, apps and innovations bubbling up to help meeting planners, exhibitors, venues and other meeting participants to do their jobs better. Despite the increased use of virtual meetings technology, face-to-face meetings and tradeshows remain viable. Although webinars are good for short information exchange, meetings offer a richer learning experience,” he says.
Viswanathan also reiterates the need to stay ahead of the demand curve in order to offer state-of-the-art facilities to guests. “We need to be well-equipped with the latest conferencing tools and also upgrade them continually to keep up with new trends that emerge in the market.
According to research, more than half of our customers in the next eight years will be millennials and therefore it is imperative that we incorporate technology seamlessly into our service offerings. Technology and consumers are both dynamic and at our property we strive to build a non-intrusive synergy between the two,” he affirms.
With so much evolution always taking place in the virtual world, it becomes extremely important for hoteliers and their product suppliers to upgrade the systems they have on offer all the time. Of course, as Hemant Khattar, general manager – information technology, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, says, these are subject to certain systems. “Upgrades are based on the requirement, age of equipment and capital expenditure approvals. We have to prepare a business case and convince management for need of same.”
On his part, Bhatia says, “We recently renovated our conference halls based on guests’ feedback. We have fully equipped conference halls with the latest equipment and facility of video conferencing too. We do have the facility from the smallest meeting of 10 pax to the maximum of 100 pax in our conference halls. All our conference halls have natural light too.”
Viswanathan also stresses the importance of technology upgrades. “At JW Marriott Bengaluru, we ensure the technology we offer is reviewed in order to maximise performance of our tools,” he says.
There are certain measures that hoteliers need to follow when selecting the gadgets and technologies available in the market. “Hoteliers should agree and understand that technology in the modern world is a job on its own. The audiences of these conferences/events are large in number and malfunction is not an option when guest are spending huge amount of money. For instance at Marriott (Marriott Hotels and Resorts brand) we have developed an app which is known as Meeting Services App (Red Coat Direct) and Workspace on Demand. The app allows planners to communicate with a hotel’s event staff before, during and after events, even when the planner isn’t able to be everywhere at once. Typically, an event manager will talk with the meeting planner before their arrival, then the operations team takes over. Now, they can build that relationship earlier. For example, planners can use the app to direct where boxes should be delivered in advance to the associate who will execute event. They can also make realtime requests,” explains Singh.
Bhatia says that the internet is the best source of information to update with the latest trends of the industry. “Our existing customers are the big source of diligence, because their feedback helps us plan,” he adds. But he also sounds words of caution.
“We must remember that no matter how much corporates may focus more on Webinars and web based meetings from in the near future but face to face meetings will stay in the industry.”
Crystal ball-gazing, Viswanathan predicts that the web will continue to play a key role in meetings and conferences with the adoption of ‘internet-of-things’ likely to become a phenomenon. “As far as equipment is concerned, faster and advanced screening/ projection tools are sure to emerge in the market,” he says.
Singh, too, looks to the future and says, “In-room conferences can take place at a pool side meeting or through a spa sessions meeting, the hotelier need to be hands-on and understand and create an environment which would engage customers. To reinvent the planning process to be more visual, social, we are innovating to deliver more inspiring, more engaging, and more results driven meeting experiences with engaging technology, flexible workspaces to inspire collaboration, and creative solutions for the way you work today,” he signs off.
