Sony is looking to wow the GCC’s hospitality industry with a range of technology solutions.
Sony Professional Solutions, the non-consumer arm of Sony Electronics has conceded that until now, its focus, as far as the Gulf market is concerned, has been on supplying the region’s burgeoning broadcast industry, but says now the time is right to hit the hospitality and leisure industries with a range of products and services, from video conferencing for hotels to HD screens and interactive entertainment solutions for sports stadiums.
“There is huge potential for Sony Professional Solutions in this market – we have been very focused on the Middle East’s broadcast industry, but now we are looking to expand in other areas,” Sony Professional Solutions Europe marketing director David Bush told Hotelier Middle East.
“There are big opportunities to work with hotels and facilities such as sports stadiums and cinemas. We’re not talking in-room TVs – that’s not a big focus of ours – but more in terms of entertainment and AV.”
Bush said Sony was looking for hotel partnerships whereby the company designed a unique entertainment solution for that property.
An example, he said, was the Hotel Rival in Sweden, owned by one of the original vocalists for Abba, where Sony installed a cinema, digital photo kiosks, PlayStations and kitted out the conference rooms with its AV equipment.
“This is the type of project we are looking for,” said Bush, noting that Sony Professional could provide a wide range of technology including security, displays and signage, content management and distribution infrastructure.
“It’s not just the product we can provide but the content too; we have a lot of experience in these areas and can offer entertainment solutions to small environments like a hotel with 10 or 20 screens up to a national networks of screens – we managed the content and distribution for the 2300 screens in the French post offices, for example.”
| Advertisement |
Bush stressed that Sony’s business had become “more and more services orientated”, which differentiated the company from its competitors.
“You can buy a screen from any manufacturer but at the end of the day, the customer wants the content – the entertainment and the information,” he said.
Examples of innovations, said Bush, were at sports stadiums whereby Sony provided interactive technology to keep fans in the stadium for longer and therefore spending more money.
The company set up the AV infrastructure for British Premiership team Arsenal, which not only include the football team’s own in-house HD studio as well as screens and projectors in the conference rooms, but provided an application for PlayStations portables for fans watching the games.
This wireless facility allows spectators to replay goals or key moments in the match, as well as look up content such as fixtures for the season.
“Increasingly, we are competing with home technology – it’s often easier to watch the match at home with your HD TV and surround sound, so we need to make sure fans still go to the stadium and can see as much as they see on TV, while having access to extra information,” explained Bush.
He also stressed the potential to work with the region’s cinemas in terms of rolling out Sony digital, HD and 3D equipment.
“It’s not a new subject, but cinemas are having to take a fresh look at how they do things,” he said.
“It’s not just about movies, you can run corporate events, show concert footage etc – and the digital projectors and other equipment make this possible.”
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
