Philips Institutional Television (iTV) hosts regional conference

Teus Stahlie, General Manager ITV Global, flew to Dubai to attend the meeting, highlighting the commitment and importance Philips attaches to future iTV business in the region. He welcomed the guests and spoke briefly about the history and successes of iTV on a global level.

The two-day conference held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai was attended by several other senior Philips iTV managers.

"The growth in this segment has been significant, with iTV in the Middle East/Africa (MEA) region posting an impressive 75% growth in 2003 over 2002. We have had a very strong start for 2004, and we are confident that this year will be very successful. Moreover, with 50,000 additional hotel rooms planned through 2008 and an overall increase in regional tourism, we expect continued growth for the long term," Stahlie said.

Richard Hoogenstraaten, iTV global manager in charge of new business and the driving force behind new products, made several presentations at the conference, highlighting the Flat and Slim line of televisions, the Mirror Television and ICONN boxes.

Khalid Tuer, Regional General Manager, Philips Consumer Electronics MEA, said, "We are very proud of the achievements in the iTV division at Philips MEA. This conference is designed not only to celebrate the successes we have enjoyed but to work with our partners to further capitalize on the foundation we have built over the last two years. With the support of our global management and that of our local dealers and systems integrators, we believe we can meet our goals."

Working in parallel with the dealers in the region, there are currently six system integrators (SIs) who source Philips television sets. SIs then add a data communication or network card to the sets resulting in fully interactive units able to communicate with servers. These servers run special software that allows guests to use the TVs to call up guest directory services, check bills, watch streaming video and play games and enables many other functions required by hotels.

iTV is a dedicated department within the Consumer Electronics division of Philips Electronics, supplying products specific to the hospitality and institutional segments. The Shangri-La, a leading conference host venue, is one of many properties throughout the region offering guests premiere TV viewing and information services built on Philips iTV solutions.