Hotel guests in Beijing could soon be enjoying more digital entertainment and business services in their rooms thanks to new technology.

The US-based Wyse Technology is hoping to introduce its Digital Hotel Room System to China, which could help hotels attract more people and generate more revenue.

The system integrates business applications such as fax and e-mail with entertainment functions such as video-on-demand (VOD) and online surfing.

Internet surfing via TV sets and VOD services are popular in hotels overseas but are not so readily available in Chinese hotels.

Wyse hopes China will serve as a model for Europe and North America.

"Previously, a lot of technology applications were developed and adopted in overseas markets first," said Andrew Hu, president of Wyse Asia Pacific.

"But the situation is reversed this time because Asia Pacific is undergoing the transition from traditional televisions to large flat-panel televisions."

Wyse aims to install terminals of its new system in 30,000 hotel rooms in Beijing this year.

Raymond Zheng, chief technology officer of Wyse, Asia Pacific, said Wyse has already signed a contract with one of the country's top three hotels, which will install the system this summer.

Zheng said Wyse is also in talks with several other five-star hotels in the country.

The hotel guest has a user terminal consisting of a large flat panel-TV, a mouse and a keyboard.

Hu said the privacy of hotel guests will be protected because their accounts will be deleted when they check out.

This, he said, means "the system will bring convenience and security to both customers and hotel management."

By the end of 2004, there were 1.24 million hotel rooms in China, an increase of 24.7 per cent on the previous year, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

Zheng said the system will also create a new business model for the hotel industry to generate more profit as "through our system, hotels can deliver advertisements to customers."

He said the Digital Hotel Room System will also serve as the best advertising media for luxury goods.

Source: China Daily