It is this point which raises the question of the real cost of video conferencing to businesses.
Although video conferencing has the potential to save companies money through lower expenditure on flight costs, hotel stays and expenses claims; it is not be possible to put a price on the value of networking, and with this in mind, some hotels are looking to facilitate face to face meetings to a greater degree than they are incorporating video conferencing.
Rosewood Corniche recently held a ‘businessman gathering’; an event which was designed to bring together Jeddah’s senior management across different industry sectors. Although the event did not utilise video conferencing, choosing instead to place the emphasis on face to face meetings, it is not something which the organisers would rule out for future ‘businessman gatherings’.
“The event didn’t require the use of special meeting technologies, but this is a point we might change as the event grows,” says Droubi.
“We might integrate video conference facilities, which will allow senior managers from across the Kingdom or even the Middle East to participate in our quarterly Businessmen Gathering.”
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Are hotels doing enough?
If face to face interaction remains an important factor in the MICE market, it is important that hotels are providing all the technology necessary to facilitate the needs of such business meetings.
Audi-Pack Middle East managing director Hans J van den Berg believes that hotels could be doing more to encourage their customers to make use of the meetings technology available to them
“I don’t think hotels are doing enough to incorporate meetings technology. In my opinion, they are looking too much to the investment and not selling the possibility to the customer of using these new ‘in house’ techniques,” says van den Berg.
And with hotels competing to procure business from the MICE market, it is not only van den Berg who feels that hotels should be stepping up their game.
TeleAdapt regional manager, Middle East and India, Inam Haider says that hotels must concentrate more on their meetings technology provision if they are to stay ahead of their competitors.
“Hotels need to be more focused on meetings technology as this can be a feature that helps to sell rooms, meetings, and increase business. More attention does need to be paid to this technology,” Haider maintains.
“Many hotels have good fittings and furnishings, but are ill-equipped when it comes to technology. The international trend in meetings is that people are becoming more tech-savvy and they want to have products available in the hotel to connect to for their meetings to be successful and professional. Hotels need to invest in products to do this.”
Beach Rotana area director of information technology, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, Mehmet Akdeniz, feels that there is still the same demand for meetings technology as before the financial crisis.
“The demand for new technology has not changed in terms of requests, due to the nature of meetings still being the same”, Akdeniz says
As a result, devices such as LCD screens with microphones, media hubs for in-hotel entertainment and wireless technology such as mobile device registration are all being incorporated in to hotels, to cater for the increasing demand from guests for accessible technology.
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