ithout question, the most popular
feature of last week's ASTA World Travel Congress in Honolulu was
the Cyber Cafe. In this instance, the name was a misnomer; the
Internet work stations weren't set up inside a restaurant, they
were in the Hawaii Convention Center's main halls. But despite the
literary license in the name, the idea was a great success.
Only a few years back, there would have been long lines at the
banks of pay phones; now everyone has a cell phone so it was easy
to get to a pay phone for those choosing that option.
The lines were to be found at the locations where Galileo had
provided Internet work stations. Doing without e-mail contact for
hours at a time has become stressful, and the Galileo setup was
helping to relieve the stress.
Each time I passed the work stations, I noticed delegates
waiting patiently for their turn at the computers. Signs posted at
the locations asked users to limit the time they spent online to
allow others to get access.
Smart planners of meetings and conventions are adopting the
Cyber Cafe approach and it's a great idea. Telephone communication
simply doesn't have the value it did a few years back; we have
become increasingly dependent on contacting each other online.
Providing easy Internet access in hotel rooms is another great
idea but the hotel industry has been very slow to adopt it. Most
hotel rooms have phones with dataports but too many rooms still
fail to provide ergonomic arrangements that allow guests to power
up and use their phone jacks without inconvenience.
Some hotels provide Internet access via the in-room television
set, using a keyboard provided by the hotel. But the costs are high
and the services aren't sufficiently explained to the guests.
Most hotels catering to business travelers also provide Internet
access in their business centers but the facilities aren't open
around the clock and, as most online users know, Internet access is
so addictive that we're likely to log on any time.
The day is bound to come when we'll find Internet-ready
computers as commonplace in hotel rooms as telephones. The price
may be high but the convenience will make it worthwhile.