Gulf Hotels turn to technology to boost customer service levels

"Hotels in the region have now recognised the enormous role of new technologies in making services smoother and quicker so there is a huge surge in demand for hotel and restaurant IT solutions," said Bernard Walsh, Managing Director of dmg world media Dubai Ltd.

"Due to the rise in demand in the region, technology is going to be a major focus at this year's Hotel Show and we're expecting a significant increase in the number of IT exhibitors,"

Taking place from May 22-24 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, The Hotel Show gathered 306 companies from 33 countries last year and attracted a targeted audience of 6,000 professional visitors from the region, including the developers behind most of the new hotels and resorts, as well as a growing number of existing hotel owners and managers.

UAE-based Key Information Technology, which distributes leading management solutions system Micros-Fidelio and other hotel IT solutions in the Middle East, is among IT exhibitors looking to build on an already encouraging business forecast for 2005.

"We have set a target of a 20 per cent revenue increase this year and I am confident we will meet it," said Selwyn De Souza, general manager of the company's hotels division.

Jason Abboud, business development manager, Bond Communications, which is one of the biggest technology exhibitors at the show said: "Travellers visiting this region are becoming increasingly sophisticated, demanding the latest hi-tech, user-friendly room amenities. Companies who can provide these services and products are in high demand in the Middle East."

The company witnessed a record year in 2004 after it was awarded a Dhs100 million contract to install what is believed to be the world's most advanced integrated hotel multimedia system at the spectacular seven-star Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi.

Samir Borkar, Director of Sales and Marketing of Cadd Emirates Computer Trading is equally optimistic. "I expect our revenue to almost double in 2005 compared to the previous year," he said. Launched only three years ago, Cadd Emirates' hotel division currently has a market share of over 50 per cent in products such as call billing, voice mail, guest express service, in-room internet access, health club and spa management, table and restaurant management, point of sales and digital signage.

"The hotel industry is very competitive. When one hotel invests in a product, it is not long before its competitors follow suit and this means a lot of new business for companies like us," Borkar said.

The company will be using The Hotel Show to launch four new products including Table Call, which enables customers in restaurants and cafes to summon their waiter by simply pressing a button. By increasing turnaround, the product helps restaurateurs increase sales and eliminates customers being over-serviced or under-serviced.

The Hotel Show is owned and managed by the region's largest exhibition organiser, dmg world media Dubai Ltd, a subsidiary of FTSE100 company The Daily Mail & General Trust plc. The company gives the exhibition highly specialised global support and has so far secured the interest of exhibitors from as far afield as Italy, Australia, the Far East, Russia, South Africa and the United States, as well as from the major regional players. So far, ten national pavilions, from China, France, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Malta, Mexico, Spain, Turkey and the UK, have signed up to take part in the exhibition.