An eco-friendly approach to newspaper delivery

LONDON, UK—A Canadian company from Richmond, BC is making its mark in Europe with a new offering called Hotel PressDisplay, which provides same-day editions of international newspapers to subscribers around the globe.

Their list includes more than 600 titles in 72 countries and 35 languages, including 19 Canadian newspapers. While it includes national newspapers such as the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star and National Post, it also offers the Vancouver Sun and Province, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post, Le Journal de Montreal, La Presse, and the Ottawa Citizen.

Hotel PressDisplay has just been launched in Europe, and the company hasn’t rolled out its program to Canada yet, though there is already some interest from Canadian hotels and chains, said Richard Miller, NewspaperDirect’s vice president, sales and marketing in an interview.

Hotel PressDisplay is a sustainable, environmentally friendly solution that enables the property to reduce costs, waste, and the manpower needed to deliver and dispose of locally printed broadsheet newspapers.

It is cost-effective and does not require additional hardware or software investments from the hotel, Miller said. Through the users’ PCs or mobile devices and the property’s highspeed Internet service, users can access and read digital versions of their daily newspapers while in the guest room, hotel lobby, restaurants or other public areas around the hotel.

Hotel PressDisplay.com enhances the newspaper experience for readers by offering a familiar look and feel, easy-to-use navigation tools, powerful keyword searching, article sharing through e-mail and blogs, translation into up to 12 languages, audio capabilities, and integration with social media such as Facebook, Digg and Del.icio.us.

The hotel can earn incremental revenue by bundling Hotel PressDisplay with their high-speed Internet access. This improves the hotel’s takeup rates, which can increase service revenue and maximize guest satisfaction. The hotel can also make Hotel PressDisplay a free amenity, and subsequently increase guest loyalty and improve guest return visit ratios, according to a company news release.

Simultaneous users

Subscriptions to Hotel PressDisplay are sold on a simultaneous-user license basis and provide the license user or guest with unlimited access to newspapers on Hotel PressDisplay. For each license purchased, one guest can use the service at a specific time and read an unlimited number of newspapers onscreen.

Hotel PressDisplay.com is the latest addition to Newspaper - Direct’s product family, which also includes their PressDisplay.com Smart - Edition ePaper solution that powers dozens of publishers. This service allows guests to print out newspapers in their original format.

“I see Hotel PressDisplay positioned well for three or four-star hotels, whereas print is better for five star hotels,” said Miller.

“Reaction at the recent HOSTEC show in London showed that three and four star hotels offer free Internet and cater to the mobile, professional business traveller.”

Hotel PressDisplay.com is available to both hotels and hotel Internet service providers. Subscription packages offer simultaneous user licenses that enable multiple guests to share the service 24 hours a day.

Hotel PressDisplay.com is currently deployed as the digital newspaper component of Swisscom Hospitality Service’s premium Internet service, Room 2.0.

Today, it is available in over 1,100 properties throughout Europe, and Swisscom plans to use it in 2,300 of its serviced properties.