Internet use in hotels rose significantly in 2009

Last year guests staying in hotels, in particular business travelers, utilized hotel Internet access 60% more than the previous year and downloaded 50% more data, according to iBAHN, a company with headquarters in the U.S. and U.K. that provides Internet services to more than 2,200 hotels around the globe.

The survey, conducted by YPartnership, discovered that more than two-thirds of frequent business travelers downloaded music onto their computers (67%) while nearly 60% downloaded video. In addition, more than half downloaded news (54%) or entertainment (52%).

While many hotels offer "free to guest" access to the Internet this trend may be hard for many to maintain because the downloading of video and music eats up much more bandwidth than emailing or general browsing.

According to a recent announcement (.pdf) by iBAHN, "The implication of this trend for hoteliers is profound as it clearly points to the conclusion that the "free to guest" model of providing free access in all locations of the hotel at all times to all guests is economically unrealistic given guests' differing bandwidth needs."

"Because costs for bandwidth continue to increase exponentially, hoteliers will continue to see higher overall expenses related to their broadband offering, without commensurate benefits in either daily rates or occupancy."

However, warns iBAHN, if additional investment is not made, guest satisfaction with a hotel's Internet service will diminish. "Earlier studies have shown that guests will not return to hotels where they have an unsatisfactory Internet experience."

Tags: bandwidth, hospitality, hotel, Internet access