Marriott Announces GoThere Virtual Meetings by Marriott with AT&T and Cisco TelePresence: Rooms in New York & Washington, DC Area Hotels Go Live

Service Will Expand To Business Centers Worldwide, Offering Customers More Opportunities to Hold Dynamic and Productive Meetings

News provided by

Marriott International, Inc.

Jan 27, 2010, 01:52 ET

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) today rolled out its first GoThere Virtual Meetings studios at the New York Marriott East Side Hotel and Bethesda North Marriott Hotel near Washington, D.C. GoThere Virtual Meetings are part of a roll-out of AT&T TelePresence Solution, using Cisco TelePresence™ studios enabled by AT&T network and the AT&T Business Exchange at Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels and Renaissance Hotels around the world.

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Key Facts / Highlights:

Marriott is the first major global hotel company to offer Cisco TelePresence meeting options with the AT&T network to its customers in locations worldwide.
The first GoThere Virtual Meetings studios are now open at the New York Marriott East Side and the Bethesda North Marriott just outside Washington, D.C. Marriott plans to expand to 25 hotels around the world in the first phase. The next hotels to offer GoThere Virtual Meetings will be Grosvenor House, a JW Marriott Hotel; JW Marriott Hong Kong; Renaissance Sao Paulo; JW Marriott Marquis Miami; Renaissance Washington, D.C.; Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway; and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott with more to follow.
Marriott's corporate customers told the company they would hold more meetings at its hotels if an appealing virtual meeting option was available. GoThere Virtual Meetings will give Marriott customers additional opportunities to hold more productive, collaborative small meetings.
By being the first major global hotel company to build out a global network of Cisco TelePresence rooms with AT&T, Marriott International expects to gain a competitive edge and attract more small business meetings typically of 20 or fewer people in multiple locations. Marriott hotels will be able to offer corporations a whole new meeting experience built around telepresence.
GoThere Virtual Meetings will create new revenue streams for Marriott hotels, and we expect that most of this new business will be incremental. Customers will now have real time, high-definition meeting alternatives to less productive global telephone or video conference calls.
GoThere Virtual Meetings will expand the current private Cisco TelePresence network by making the technology more widely available worldwide. Customers will also be able to connect to other Cisco TelePresence rooms on the AT&T Business Exchange, AT&T's unique intercompany, multipoint, meet-me bridging capability. There are nearly 700 existing private Cisco TelePresence locations throughout the world connected to the AT&T Business Exchange.
The GoThere Virtual Meetings utilizes AT&T's fully-managed AT&T TelePresence Solution. Cisco TelePresence technology helps enable Marriott to offer its customers the widest array of meeting options, whether in-person, virtual or both.
To book a meeting room online or keep updated on new locations, customers can go to https://www.gotherevirtualmeetings.com/.
Telepresence is a rapidly growing and increasingly popular technology that enables groups to meet and collaborate in multiple locations worldwide in real time. By combining high-definition video, real time audio and interior design for GoThere Virtual Meetings studios, groups feel as if they are actually gathered together in the same room across a virtual table, even if they are thousands of miles apart.
Marriott chose AT&T TelePresence Solution because it combines AT&T's global communications networking capabilities with the Cisco TelePresence technology.

Supporting Quotes:

"Marriott continues to lead the lodging industry in delivering the latest meeting technology to its customers. GoThere Virtual Meetings with AT&T and Cisco TelePresence will offer our customers a new way to hold more productive, collaborative meetings linking locations around the world, and open up new revenue opportunities for our company and our hotels. We are proud to work with AT&T and Cisco to enhance innovative communications technology at our hotels and offer it to our customers." -- David Marriott, chief operations officer, Americas Eastern Region, Marriott International

"In an increasingly interconnected business world, companies of all sizes are seeking the ability to hold a more internal and client meetings across the globe. With the opening of GoThere Virtual Meetings with AT&T and Cisco, Marriott customers are able to easily collaborate 'in-person' with partners around the world. We look forward to working with Marriott to further expand intercompany connectivity and accelerate global innovation and collaboration." -- Bill Archer, executive vice president – Global Strategy and Transformation, AT&T Business Solutions.

"Marriott International is demonstrating its leadership in the lodging industry by using innovative technologies like Cisco TelePresence to offer its customers the widest array of meeting options, whether in-person, virtual or both. Working with leading global companies, Marriott and AT&T, Cisco is delighted to bring the vision of a global Cisco TelePresence network to reality." -- Mark Weidick, vice president and general manager, TelePresence Business Unit for Cisco

Links / URLs:

GoThere Virtual Meetings with AT&T and Cisco TelePresence Information Site (www.marriott.com/gotherevirtualmeetings)
GoThere Virtual Meetings with AT&T and Cisco TelePresence Booking Portal (www.gotherevirtualmeetings.com)
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Tags / Keywords: Marriott International, Marriott, Renaissance, JW Marriott, GoThere, Go There Virtual Meetings by Marriott, AT&T, AT&T TelePresence Solution, Cisco, Cisco TelePresence, TelePresence, hotel, meetings

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About Marriott International

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