Chasing Bandwidth: The Challenge of Keeping Up with,The Growing Addiction to Data with in the Hotel Industry

It is almost impossible to keep up with the growing de­mands for bandwidth. Yet, at the same time, Internet access is the ‘new hot water.’ Just as guests expect a hot shower in the morning regardless whether everyone is taking a shower at the same time, they expect fast Internet, even if everyone else is on the Internet at the same time, frequently consuming valuable bandwidth with multiple devices.

  "It is interesting that, in its relatively short life span, the Internet has become such a blessing and challenge for the hotel industry"  

In addition to being a high incidence problem area, In­ternet issues also have a relatively high negative impact on guest satisfaction compared with many other problem areas. However, the impact of Internet issues largely depends on the nature of the problem and who experiences the problem, particularly from a generational perspective. Internet issues impact Pre-Boomers (born before 1946) the most. Younger generations, Gen Y (1977-1994) and Gen Z (born between, 1995 and 2004) are the least affected by Internet issues, likely because their familiarity with technology creates more realistic expectations.

The types of Internet problems experienced by guests vary quite a bit by generation as well. For example, older generations experience a much higher percentage of prob­lems initially connecting to the Internet, whereas younger generations predominantly have problems with lost con­nections or slow bandwidth. One might presume that slow bandwidth would be more difficult to resolve and would, therefore, have a greater impact on the guest experience, but an older guest’s inability to connect seems to be a more impactful type of In­ternet problem.

It is interesting that, in its rela­tively short life span, the Internet has become such a blessing and chal­lenge for the hotel industry. Having an effective Internet connection helps the business person be productive on the road, while allowing leisure travelers and their families the opportu­nity to stream enter­taining content. Yet, expectations of In­ternet performance have emerged ag­gressively. Most guests presume that Internet con­nectivity is iden­tical to electricity or heating/cooling that can be reliably distributed to each individual guest room throughout the hotel. Just as they are not charged extra for television, phone use, air conditioning, or any number of other hotel amenities, the expectation is becoming common that Internet access should be provided at no additional charge.

Indeed, there is a growing trend, even among full service hotels that used to charge a separate fee for Internet access, to now provide access at no additional cost—though some­times hotels use the offer of free Internet to at entice guests into their various loyalty programs. Meeting planners also now assume fast and reliable Internet connections are stand­ard as part of their agreements with the venues they use for their events.

One solution that has been adopted is to offer premium Internet connections for a small additional charge. The J.D. Power study shows that guests generally don’t mind paying extra for the premium service. This helps alleviate some of the bandwidth issues while bringing in some revenue to sub­sidize the costs of the necessary upgrades.

It is difficult to know at what point the growing hun­ger for data will flatten out. Until then, hotels will contin­ue to chase bandwidth and deal with the challenge of our continued growing consumption for Internet content as a cost of doing business.