We live in a world of constant connectivity with limitless demand for digital content and services. Any customer facing business is missing a crucial aspect of their service offering if they are not providing a means for consumers to easily access the online world.
If customers are not able to facilitate their fix for online entertainment and business needs, they are going to take their custom elsewhere. With such tight competition across the customer services industry, this is a risk that businesses can ill-afford to take.
This is no different in the hospitality industry, with the need to adapt to an ‘always online’ world being particularly pressing. Fortunately, some very simple steps can be taken to remedy the gaps that a given hotel or hospitality business have in their present networking and entertainment offerings. We’ll be discussing free-to-access Wi-Fi in this article, taking a look at how it was able to help Macdonald Hotels & Resorts improve the experience of their guests and provide the level of service that modern consumers demand.
Connecting guests to a better experience
A free Wi-Fi service is a great way to increase goodwill and engagement with customers, ensuring that they are best able to continue their customary day-to-day digital activities unabated. Whether they lean towards staying up to date with the latest international news, or keeping their own personal social network informed of the minutiae of their day, a high speed Wi-Fi network provides customers with a convenient means to satiate their online appetites, making them feel more at home, and more comfortable.
The demand from the public for such home comforts is clearly there – Ofcom estimates that 61% of adults in the UK own a smartphone, as of the first quarter of 2014, with that trend having increased by 10% from the same period in 2013. As well as the growing domination of smartphones, the same Ofcom survey also revealed that 57% of people used their mobile handsets to access the internet over the same period, a statistic that also increased over the same period the previous year, in this case by 8%. It’s clear that demand for facilities optimised for mobile internet access is only increasing.
In regards to hotels specifically, it’s especially clear that unfettered, easy access to high quality internet services are a key determiner to the likelihood of a consumer choosing a particular hotel for their stay. A study recently undertaken by ESET found that more than a third of British people that they asked based their choice of hotel on both the presence and quality of Wi-Fi found on the premises.
One of the benefits to businesses that utilise customer-targeted Wi-Fi networks is that such networks can be operated and maintained with relative ease. The caveat with the ease of use of a given WiFi network is that it must be set up properly to maximise the network’s efficiency and long-term efficacy.
Macdonald Hotels & Resorts
A good example of the positive effect that the installation of a quality WiFi network can have on the fortunes of a hotel is that of Macdonald Hotels & Resorts. They enlisted the aid of WiFi provider The Cloud to provide high speed internet and Wi-Fi connections across their 40+ UK locations. The Wi-Fi networks are free to access and are accessible from all public areas of the hotels, providing unlimited internet to all guests who bring devices that are able to utilise it.
The installation has been met very positively by the public. As of a year after the installation was completed, the statistics were impressive:
- 3.6 million Wi-Fi sessions
- 487.8 million minutes spent online
- An average of 92,932 user devices accessed the network every month
- An average of 134.4 minutes were spent per session
An added bonus for Macdonald Hotels & Resorts was the additional marketing opportunities that the service provided them with, including the ability to advertise services and facilities on their Wi-Fi landing page, which helped customers to get the most from their stay, while helping Macdonald Hotels & Resorts more easily demonstrate the breadth of their services.
Stuart Garrick, the IT Director of Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, summarises: “In hospitality, we are constantly battling rival venues and seeking to set ourselves apart. The ability to get online is now often as important to our guests as getting a good night’s sleep. With The Cloud in place, we know we are offering the very best service to the modern guest.”
Providing the best facilities and services to customers makes all the difference in the competitive hotel industry and free high quality Wi-Fi access goes a long way in the eyes of consumers!
About the author
Nick Bush has been writing since he could hold a pen, and has been working in marketing since graduating from the University of Portsmouth. He has a wide range of marketing experience, across a diverse array of fields; from medical technology, to property. Currently residing in his adoptive city of Portsmouth, in the UK, Nick can be reached at nbush@vertical-leap.uk.
