CHICAGO – Hotel Communication Network (HCN) is on a quest to radically transform the way hoteliers think about in-room tablets. This year the company will introduce new, no-cost guest services for its Navigator 2.0 tablets, such as digital magazines, music streaming, AI-based itinerary planning, merchandising, ecommerce, and much more. Terry Donnelly has recently joined the company to serve as Chief Revenue Officer and begin driving an immediate return on investment for owners and operators.
HCN will emerge in 2025 as a completely new company,
Donnelly said. The vision of its founders is extraordinary, and it is the main reason I accepted this newly created position. HCN will be the first technology company to take tablets from a capital expense to a revenue driver by eliminating the cost of ownership and attracting brand partners and advertisers. The upside is astonishing. While other tablet providers focus on selling hardware, HCN is growing our hotel partners’ businesses by serving all guests’ needs with one easy-to-use device that drives immediate revenue growth.
HCN’s AI-powered in-room tablets provide an unprecedented opportunity to market to guests during the entire time of their stay in the room – in fact, it’s the only way to truly reach 100% of guests. The average person spends 3.5 hours a day in the room awake; that is the ideal time to send value-added service messaging to guests.
The tablet platform we will be unveiling in June comes with an immediate ROI for the hotel, mainly because the only cost to the hotel is the time it takes to manage the platform,
Donnelly said. With our brand and advertising partners covering the hard costs and operating costs of the platform, the value to the hotel and the guest is immeasurable. Short of taking full control of the guest’s own phone, there is no other technology that offers as much potential for guest engagement and the control of marketing messaging.
Bringing Branding + Marketing to Tablets
Prior to joining HCN, Donnelly managed a global AI platform for the consumer packaged goods and retail sectors in the European Union and North America. He worked in music, sports, and entertainment marketing with Coca Cola, creating programs for Intercontinental Hotels, MGM, Six Flags, and Chili’s Restaurants. He also created two leading be