Over 100,000 hotel rooms for industry standard Genesis entertainment and internet services solution

London, November 1st. Quadriga, the number 1 provider of digital-IP based entertainment and internet services for the hotel industry, announces today that its state-of-the-art Genesis system is now available in over 100,000 rooms across Europe and the Middle East.

This milestone is celebrated with Starwood Hotels and Resorts who were the first to commercially introduce Genesis into the Sheraton brand and now join Quadriga in achieving this milestone with another of their brands, Westin at the Westin Europa and Regina Hotel, in Venice Italy. This most recent signing results in the proven Genesis solution being available in nearly 15,000 Starwood rooms across Europe and the Middle East.

Since its launch, the uptake of Genesis has been significant and is gathering speed with a 58% growth in hotel signings between 2005 and 2006. Genesis, Europe’s first fully digital-IP in room system pioneered digital entertainment and internet services in the first class and luxury sector and is now firmly established as the true industry standard for hotels across both high and mid market segments.

Hotels are increasingly looking to migrate from their existing analogue systems to a future proof digital IP-based solution, which enables them to deliver a wider range of compelling services and more choice of on-demand entertainment, where guests can watch what they want when they want. This rapid growth in demand has been enabled by the successful introduction, in 2005, of Genesis on any network (coax, cat 5, cat 6, cat 2) delivering a cost effective and scaleable solution to hotels.

The range and quality of services offered was key for Starwood and the Westin Europe and Regina when selecting Genesis. “Being in Venice, with a high proportion of our guests visiting for leisure purposes and speaking many different languages, we are absolutely focused on providing a branded exclusive service. To ensure that we are able to continually delight our guests it is vital that we are able to provide them with a relevant choice of in-room services -with the latest on-demand movies, a wide selection of music and a choice of 16 languages. Genesis enables us to do that” commented Ciro Verrocchi, General Manager of Westin Europa and Regina

“The real added value for us however is the integrated high speed internet access service (HSIA) and being able to offer both our leisure and business guests a range of options for connecting to the internet to stay in touch with the home or office. This sort of flexibility is vital to our guests and our business” he added.

Genesis is the only established and proven hotel entertainment solution to offer an integrated HSIA capability, with 3 connectivity options -either wireless (Wifi) or with a fixed connection via the television or laptop. According to Quadriga, 67% of all Genesis hotel customers have chosen to take their HSIA solution, evidence that internet services are a ‘must have’ for all hotels and represent a significant and growing revenue stream for hoteliers.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts were an early adopter of Genesis, Brian Pratt, Vice President E-Commerce and Guest Technology, comments “ From the outset Quadriga’s Genesis solution has demonstrated real innovation for in-room technology enabling our hotels to provide a branded high quality solution across Europe and the Middle East. It enables our hotels to exceed guests expectations by providing a ‘better than I have in my home’ experience and at the same time provides measurable, incremental revenue for our hotels.

I am pleased to see the introduction of Digital TV and enhanced customisation options enabling us to take our different brand experiences through the TV in the room. Quadriga is a true partner proven by their understanding of how we look at in-room technology to extend our brand experience as well as their continued investment in their product. The introduction of the NOC ( Network Operating Centre) provided us with confidence that our rooms were constantly being monitored enabling us to deliver exemplary customer service”.

Quadriga’s Chief Executive, Ian Crabb comments: “Securing more than 100,000 Genesis rooms is a key milestone and reaffirms Quadriga’s position as the European market leader. To maintain Quadriga’s momentum, we are focusing on three key areas: firstly maintaining the highest levels of service to our existing customers; secondly we are closely tracking developments in technology and content to ensure that Quadriga fully capitalizes on new advances in the digital and content spaces and offers these benefits to our customers on a timely basis; thirdly Quadriga is ensuring that the new services it introduces will provide hoteliers with real benefits, either to increase revenues, reduce costs or secure customer loyalty”.