Darren, I’ve been saying forever that free WiFi is the biggest missed Marketing opportunity for tourism businesses.
Making it easy for your guests to share stories with their family, friends and followers should be a primary objective.
Word of MOUSE rules!

My stay in London last year left me upset and angry about the high cost of WiFi. Something like €30/day. Outrageous.

Intstead of sharing great stories about my accommodations, the food, the staff, I was left stewing about being ripped off.

Hoteliers need to understand the power of social media and move their costs for providing internet access to their marketing expense budget and give it away.

Put up signs that say – “Have you twittered your stay with us today? Have you sent photos to your Facebook Fans?”

Nuff said, now don’t get me going.

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Hi Darren,

When I agreed on Twitter that conferences should have free WiFi, one guy (OK, yes, he was European) said that this wasn’t a “charity event.”

Whoa, this totally misses the point. I don’t expect your business to excel at handouts; I expect it to excel at business, and at customer service. Free WiFi is not just for those with laptops, either. In the next few months, we will see an explosion of new-to-the-market smartphones, most with Google’s Android as competitors to the iPhone. Pretty soon, just like Granny is getting on Facebook, Granny is going to figure out that she can have the Internet in her purse. She’s going to start noticing where she can get WiFi and where she can’t.

Your place doesn’t offer it but another up the street does? You lose.

Good luck with that business model. “Charity,” my eye.

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Darren

I agree there should be, so do most travel companies, it is the conference venues that do not wish to offer this and not just in the UK. I have done conferences across Europe and even been to places in the USA and after checking do still not offer wifi. As to hotels could this be something to do with cost, after all to get broadband in the USA is half the price (or more) than the UK. But yes if someone big did it as a marketing ploy others would end up following.

As to the UK lagging we are 8th in the world or 4th in Europe or 33rd depending on the survey, so it all depends on who you believe, either way the UK is never in lower rankings and our broadband is rated as good for current usage, but needs improvement for the future. Which is the main problem the % of internet savvy users are always going to be unhappy with a system that is fit for now but out of date in 3 years!

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How can tourism, which depends so heavily on online channels of distribution to attract visitors then turn their backs on them, when they finally make it to and through their doors?
I stayed at a moderately priced hotel last night where wifi was instantly available for free in every nook and cranny of the hotel. It made my stay there infinitely more enjoyable and productive – and I could connect with family via Skype without worrying about having to take out a second mortgage for the phone charges. Wifi access is now essential to the business traveller – incorporate the cost into the overhead and absorb some or all of the cost into the daily room rate. Watch your customers stay longer and spend more on other services while they check their email, tweets and facebook messages….a process that takes more and more time. Alternatively take the Ryanair approach and put an extra meter on the lights, the shower, the inroom coffee machine or supply a bed and charge for pillows and blankets!

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I don’t really see that the WTM not having wi-fi is a sign that “travel” isn’t switched on to mobile or the internet. It’s organised by Reed who are not a travel company and it’s hosted by Excel who have nothing to do with travel.

Most of the organising of the WTM is done by people who have very little involvement with travel other than the WTM. So I am not sure how the blame can be laid at the door of “travel”.

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We are in education and bit of travel business based in Budapest (where free fast wifi abounds), and from where we market virtually into Central Europe, Turkey etc.

One related issue which is not acknowledged that many in marketing, sales, PR etc. seem not to prefer, is internet based work, marketing etc. for fear of their physical position (and implicit authority) being challenged?

If it any consolation, Australia is even worse…… slow, expensive and often not accessible.

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I agree with comment #1 and with your article. Wi-fi should be free or at least really cheap to connect. In fact hotels would benefit from this as it will attract more clients. If they cannot have wi-fi on the room, have in a common room and offer drinks or some snack and there: internet bill paid and happy costumers!

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[...] Darren Cronian thinks UK isn’t too hot for Wi-Fi hotspots. [...]

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It’s ridiculous for WTM not to have wifi access. I can’t speak for London hotels, having never stayed at them, but there is free wifi at cafe chains such as Pret a Manger and most public libraries.

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Darren, many thanks for linking to the debate going on at London Hotels Insight on hotels and free WiFi.

I’ve been accused by one hotelier comment on my blog of being “stupid” for saying that WiFi is now a basic necessity (and in my view, charging for it is like charging for the use of lifts or electricity).

But I think Sheila above is spot-on when she says that hoteliers who bury their head in the sand will simply lose out through natural competition.

I met a couple of London hotel managers in recent days who do offer free WiFi (at different ends of the market). They’re ecstatic that some of their competitors still “don’t get it”.

I fully intend to continue promoting “the good guys” which offer free WiFi. I’d love it if other bloggers also published lists of conference venues, hotels, airports and cafes in different countries that do offer free WiFi.

By using the power of information and viral tools like Twitter, I’m optimistic we’ll make change happen.

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Here in Vietnam EVERYWHERE has free wifi (apart from a few luxury hotels but even they are starting to wake up). I was at WTM and luckily our pavilion stand was wifi-connected, but trying to find wifi anywhere else in London was impossible. Just another example of ripoff Britain as far as I’m concerned.

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We were shocked to find London to be one of the worse places on our world tour to find free wifi! We even went to 4 MacDonald’s in the center most touristy section and none of them were working!

I am sure it is easier for someone who lives in London, but we found it a total and unexpected nightmare for a family visiting London!

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As travellers from NZ about to make our 3rd trip to Europe in as many years we now only book accomodation that offer free wifi (both at home and abroad). It amazes me that free wifi is readily available in Slovakian & Polish hotels we have visited, yet in the USA, UK & France the cost of internet access has sometimes been upwards of 1/3 of the price of the room per day. This is utterly ridiculous. I don’t want to spend my days using up their bandwidth simply update my Facebook and blog! On another note, the price of pre-paid wifi to use on the road is also absurd. Hopefully this will improve swiftly!

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