Outdoor Wi-Fi: A Florida Hotel's Ultimate Amenity

Tourists visit Florida for its beaches and sunny weather, and they want to stay somewhere that can give them that authentic ‘Florida experience.’ Hoteliers in Sarasota have capitalized on this, enticing guests to soak up the sun at their hotel with everything from private beach access to pools with swim-up bars.

Guests love these amenities but with being in the Sunshine State you need to make your little slice of Florida heaven standout? Free outdoor Wi-Fi just might be that extra ray of sunshine! Just imagine, with outdoor Wi-Fi your guests can now browse, stream, and post all while sipping on a daquiri poolside or with their toes buried in the sand.

If thinking of those happy guests isn’t enough to convince you, let’s look at how outdoor Wi-Fi will benefit your hotel:

Wi-Fi Is a Necessity, Not an Amenity

Let’s first get something straight, if you run a hotel and do not currently offer free Wi-Fi to your guests, you are in trouble. In a Forbes’ survey of hotel guests, they found free Wi-Fi to be the most important amenity for both business and leisure travelers; and, in more recent a recent study from Hotel Internet Services they found: 

Over 75% of guests reported that the unavailability of free Wi-Fi would be a deal-breaker and they would see alternative accommodations. [1]

Today, guests are using technology in so many different aspects of their daily lives and they expect to be able to do the same no matter where they stay. 

Millennials Are Your Market

Fresh towels and chocolates on the pillow might be just fine for some (looking at you baby boomers, Gen x) but a new wave of hotel goers has arrived, and what they want is to stay connected.

According to the latest census, Millennials now make up the largest portion of the US population at 83.1 million toppings the next largest group, the baby boomers, by about 8 million people. These millennials span ages 24-44, and according to Expedia, they travel more per given year for both business and leisure than any other age group [2].

This generation is tech-savvy, extensively researching where they plan to stay, and tend to shop with a “What’s in it for me” mentality. If your hotel isn’t offering them something that your neighbor is where do you think they’ll stay?

This trend towards technology is nothing new:

Guests travelling with smartphones – 98.5% in 2019 > 78% in 2015
Guests wanting to pair multiple devices - 76% in 2019 > 67% in 2015

Want to hear the good news? By preparing your hotel to appeal to the younger generations you are, by default, going to make your hotel more appealing to other generations as well! You kill two birds with one stone.

Judge, Jury, and Insta-Cautioner 

Tech-savvy guests want to be able to use all their gadgets and devices wherever they are on your property and they want to share their travel experience with everyone they know. What story do you want your guests telling? A live-streamed video of someone enjoying the tiki bar or the one describing their stay as something out of the Twilight Zone due to lack of connection to the outside world…?

Subscribe to our blog for more articles like this! Next, we will discuss ways hotels can use their Wi-Fi to advertise various services and offers and services for to guests and potential customers around the property!

References:

https://www.hotelwifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/WiFi_Whitepaper.pdf

https://adage.com/article/advertising/appeal-millennial-traveler/298989

https://businessblog.trivago.com/category/hospitality-guest-experience/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/six-ways-hotels-are-targeting-the-millennial-market-and-benefiting-us-all/2017/06/29/244c0646-5852-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f_story.html

Conclusion