Towards More Business-Oriented Business Centers

This is not a part of the intensified hospitality project but it’s an idea that was always there during the project.
I don’t know that much about the evolution of business centers in the hotel industry. But I would assume that at a point of time there were no business centers and then they started to add them to satisfy some basic communication needs that only business people needed back then and weren't easy to find around. And as far as I know it stopped there.
I see that most of business centers in the hotels today are incomplete secretarial centers. They sometimes provide more modest communication facilities than what we're already moving around with in our life of mobility.
I would think that business center is where a hotel can most add a value to business. I would simply say that hotels have the opportunity to be real business centers, all of the hotel, the entire hotel and not a small room thrown behind corridors. but let me now keep it to the same business center and not a business hotel.
I would say why don’t we have business centers being the places where business takes place? Where networking happens, where the hospitality industry weaves its values around a very huge portion of its customers and their real needs and interests.
I guess we need to move away from thinking of all customers the same way, and of business guests just like any other customer where their needs are expected to be a bed and a bathroom. Normally, when you even come to what executive rooms mean, it’s more of a luxury and not that much to add in the business domain. According to the proposed concept, following is what a hotel business center can offer.

1. Establish and maintain a directory of local business entities and business people and make it available for guests.
2. Establish and maintain a reputation system for those local business people who benefit from the business center. The reputation system relies much on the feedback given by the guests who established a relation with the local business person or entity.
3. Establish and maintain a repository of catalogues of products and services for suppliers operating in various fields for easier selection and ordering.
4. Create the opportunity for guests to communicate with other guests for networking and exploration of opportunities based on their preferences.
5. Create the opportunity for guests and local business people to communicate for networking, exploring opportunities based on their preferences.
6. Providing secretarial, translation, legal, accounting and tax advisory facilities for faster deal closing.
7. Hosting a bank branch for faster on-site banking and financial services.
8. Stock market follow-up and transaction facilities.
9. Running a linkedin group that would connect guests and local business people before and after the visit.

Do you think such a business center will have a different value to offer to you on you next business trips?

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