Hotels Find Keeping Travelers at Home Can Be Good Business

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," may be the best maxim to explain why travel companies are getting into the virtual meeting business, actually helping clients avoid flying halfway around the globe. Two of the world's biggest hotel companies, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International, are outfitting some of their meeting rooms with telepresence suites, a high-end system that leapfrogs typical videoconferencing technology. Their goal is to rent the rooms to customers who are already embracing virtual alternatives to travel, but do not have telepresence suites everywhere they would like to use them. Telepresence technology has been around for several years, but analysts say the business model for public rooms, which rent for about $500 an hour, is converging with tight travel budgets to create a more compelling reason for companies to give it a try. The technology itself has also improved, eliminating the delays that can make the typical videoconferencing experience awkward. The telepresence suites are intended to make participants feel as if they are meeting face-to-face: when you walk into the room, there is half a conference table facing high-definition screens that project life-size images of people sitting in similar suites elsewhere in the world.