Study shows money can be made on high-speed Internet access

Salt Lake City--A new research study from iBAHN and Ypartnership indicates frequent travelers are willing to pay a premium for high quality, high-speed hotel Internet access (HSIA) service. In fact, nearly half of business travelers are willing to pay in order to meet their business and personal information and entertainment requirements while travelling.

The second annual iTRAVELLER  was developed by iBAHN and YPartnership to better understand business travelers, their expectations and needs, and their use of technology while traveling. The study was designed to assist hotels and ownership/management groups in making critical decisions related to technology expenditures, and to assist in capturing revenues and improving guest satisfaction.  The data from the study also improves iBAHN’s ability to provide its hotel partners with the services that guests require now and in the future.

“The data from this latest iteration of the survey underscore the growing importance of access to the latest technology in hotel and resort selection by frequent travelers,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman of Ypartnership, the co-author of the survey. “In fact, several technology attributes now eclipse the importance of the property’s brand name.”

Demand for hotel Internet services is driven by significant growth in the use of streaming video.  According to YouTube, users are now downloading more than 100 million videos per day.  In June 2010, more than 2.5 billion YouTube videos were watched by 20 million users.  iTRAVELLER behavior at home is also raising the expectations for in-room technology.  In one year (from 2009 to 2010), there was a 236 percent increase of those watching television on their desktop or laptop computers.

iTRAVELLER data indicates there is a new perspective of the in-room flat screen as a practical digital portal, with 54 percent of respondents wanting a monitor capable of viewing the Internet.  There is also strong interest in using the screen for reviewing guest charges (62 percent of respondents), checking out (61 percent), shopping for travel services (55 percent), ordering room service (53 percent), and arranging a wake-up call (53 percent).

In addition to the more than 40 percent of iTRAVELLERS who revealed their willingness to pay for more bandwidth or faster Internet service, more than 80 percent of study participants indicated that their companies will reimburse business travelers for HSIA use at hotels.  Furthermore, 80 percent of iTRAVELLERS said that data security and privacy is very important to them.

iBAHN helps hoteliers capitalize on this new digital dynamic to enable these desired behaviors and to match or surpass the home entertainment experience.
In light of other industry data suggesting that most business travelers are wary of Internet security while on the road, it is also important to note that iBAHN offers a clearly distinguishable offering with the appropriate levels of security and privacy to assure users and promote usage.

“Hotel ownership and management groups need to create differentiation.  Not only to set themselves apart from the competition but also to distinguish portfolio properties,” said David W. Garrison, chief executive officer. “Providing highly reliable and secure HSIA is currently one of the best ways of creating affinity and improving customer satisfaction.”

The data from this study indicates not only high interest levels among travelers for better Internet service, but also establishes this desire as a growing trend. iBAHN is deeply committed to the continuation of this study as well as other research initiatives for deeper industry insights. Additional iTRAVELLER data for the U.K. and Australia also is available, and will be released in the fourth quarter of 2010.