The Hotel Technology 2020 Customer Engagement Technology study reveals what we have long known - free WiFi ranks as the number one feature guests want from hotels. In fact, 63% of travelers confirm that a hotel provides wireless connectivity before booking a room. Staying connected is invaluable in today’s world - so much so that we have to ask ourselves this question: Is WiFi really enough in the hotel landscape?
Benefits
Let’s break down why hotels provide free WiFI for their guests. Other than the obvious benefit of giving them what they want, there’s a multitude of benefits to providing free WiFi for your guests.
Enhanced Brand Image
Empowers Guest Engagement
Better Guest Experience
Encourages Guest Spending
These 4 factors ultimately lead to point number #5 - Brand Loyalty. In the 2020 Lodging Technology Study, 72% of respondents said that they are more likely to return to a property when the hotel technology they want is available. Guests have made it clear that they want free WiFi in their rooms. With the benefits mentioned above, providing free WiFi is a no-brainer and NO-RISK investment for hoteliers. A WiFi service is not a luxury but a necessity for hotels in today’s travel needs. It has become the bare minimum of what a hotel can provide for its guests.
Hotel WiFi allows guests to stay engaged when they are in the hotel compounds but we all know that there is more to travelling than that. One pitfall of WiFi is the intangible physical barrier it imposes. When travellers move out of the hotel to explore the destination, your hotel WiFi is now deemed “obsolete”. British travellers spend about 3 hours in their hotel rooms when they are not sleeping or exploring the destination and assuming the average human being sleeps for 8 hours, travellers are spending a whopping 13 hours outside of their hotel rooms! Here’s the kick - most hotels are willing to fork out extra to provide guests with WiFi despite the meagre time (3 hours) spent in hotels, but they have yet to invest in a service which helps guests stay engaged to hotels when they are out exploring (13 hours!).
Going Above and Beyond
Hoteliers can in turn ask themselves, “How can I do more to provide for my guests?” Here is when 4G and Portier Phones come into the picture. Portier Phones are equipped with a local SIM card and provide a hotspot connection for up to 5 devices. This allows hoteliers to stay engaged with their guests throughout the entire guest journey even with the physical distance.
Why Mobile?
Recent travel trends have shown that 77% of guests would like to request room service and other hotel facilities through the use of mobile devices and 83% of guests want hotel service promotions on their mobile devices. Mobile phones have become an indispensable tool in our daily lives, especially when we travel. One may wonder if there is a need for an additional phone when most travellers already possess their own device but our statistics have shown that 80% of travellers choose to use a Portier Phone found in their rooms. If guests are using these phones, providing them with the means of connectivity (4G) is only a given.
In Hotel Rooms
Even in hotel rooms, guests can use the phones to request and enquire about services. If guests are feeling peckish, a timely push notification intrigues them to peek into the in-room dining menu and place an order via Portier Chat. Before guests head out to explore their destination, they can also browse through the city guide on the phone (which also serves as an additional revenue stream for your hotel by establishing partnerships with third-party businesses).
Out Exploring
When guests are away from the hotel, they get to experience a guest service that transcends space and time. Timely push promotions powered by Portier Datasheets can encourage guests to spend more on your hotel’s ancillary services. With the Portier Phones, hotels can send a happy hour promotion to guests who are returning from their day’s exploration, or arrange for transportation to pick guests up.
The examples given above are only but a small fraction of what you can achieve with Portier Phones. With connectivity, the possibilities are limitless - and Portier is your key to unlocking expanded guest services in the future of travelling with technology.