Pacific Media Highlights Hospitality Market for HDTVs; New Construction and Renovation Projects Represent Strong Opportunities
Pacific Media Associates, the global market information experts on large-screen displays, reports that the hospitality market is experiencing unprecedented growth, and presents important opportunities for sales of flat panel HDTVs.
Menlo Park, CA (PRWEB) July 14, 2006 -- Pacific Media Associates, the global market information experts on large-screen displays, reports that the hospitality market is experiencing unprecedented growth, and presents important opportunities for sales of flat panel HDTVs.
Nearly 111,500 new hotel rooms were under construction in the United States as of March 2006, of which about 75,000 will be completed this year. “Flat panel televisions have some important advantages over traditional CRT models,” notes Pacific Media Vice President Rosemary Abowd. “The smaller footprint of these sets gives designers the freedom to use smaller furniture. This space savings can be used to fit additional rooms per floor without sacrificing guest space. The space can also be used to make room for other amenities or simply provide a more luxurious experience.”
In addition to new construction, however, ongoing renovation of existing properties account for even greater opportunities; some sources estimate that there are 4 million hotel rooms in the United States, and these undergo major renovation every seven to 10 years, resulting in at least 400,000 redecorated rooms each year.
“Not all properties are candidates for in-room flat panel HDTVs,” observes Abowd. “Economy hotels generally do not have pay-per-view or other services, and rely on inexpensive CRTs for in-room entertainment. Travelers staying at higher-priced hotels are expecting a more luxurious level of service. Flat panel TVs shout ‘luxury’ for not much more money.”
For example, the new Cambria Suites chain already has reported contracts for 23 properties averaging at least 100 suites per property. Plans call for flat panel televisions in both the living and sleeping areas in each suite. This will result in the purchase of more than 4,600 units, just for these new properties. Many large renovation projects also plan to place flat panel televisions in guest rooms, such as the 532-room Radisson Hotel Martinique in New York City, and the 190-room Doubletree Hotel Claremont that recently reopened with 32-inch LCD HDTVs in each room.
“The hospitality market has special needs,” according to Abowd. “In addition to pay-per-view services, hotels also offer free-to-guest high definition TV, in-room billing, and other services. Displays need to support LodgeNet and OnCommand systems, or possibly new IP-based systems. At Pacific Media, we track display shipments and sales by the individual model, so we are able to provide detailed information about the products with the specific features required by the hospitality market.
“We also conduct an annual reseller survey, through which we collect data about large display sales to hotels and lodging applications, not just for in-room viewing, but meeting room support, public area entertainment, and digital signage applications.”
About Pacific Media Associates
Pacific Media specializes in global display market information, covering all large-screen display categories: front projectors, plasma and LCD TVs, and rear-projection displays. Their Large-Screen Displays Industry Service family of publications provides detailed worldwide quarterly updates (sell-in data and forecasts) on large-screen display markets, newsletters on new products and other key industry developments, monthly advertised price tracking, ad hoc analyses, and annual Web surveys of North American end users (including organizations and individual consumers) and both North American and EMEA resellers/retailers. Their Large-Screen Displays Tracking Service family of monthly reports offers timely sell-through data and analysis on unit sales, true volume-weighted street prices, and inventories of large-screen displays sold by leading North American retailers, resellers, and distributors. Pacific Media Associates was established by Dr. William Coggshall, who was previously a co-founder of Dataquest and helped start the syndicated high-tech market information business. The company headquarters is at 1060 Siskiyou Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Telephone +1 650-561-9020 www.pacificmediaassociates.com
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