Wi-fi survey results: 95% offer it free

Last month Accommodation Know-How sent out a survey to determine WiFi availability amongst accommodation providers and to understand how operators went about setting up a WiFi network. Coupled with our feature on WiFi, this aims at providing a broader understanding of a service many nowadays deem essential – even if they want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life.

Our survey canvassed our readership base and the proportion of respondents was the following: 48% were bed and breakfast operators, 43.9% were self-catering accommodation providers, 1.8% were caravan parks and 6.8% were a mix of inns, serviced apartments and guesthouses.

The survey showed that the overwhelming majority of accommodation providers do offer some form of WiFi coverage, with 87.1% of respondents saying they had WiFi. Of these, a staggering 95.5% offer the service free of charge, with the remaining 4.5% charging anywhere between £2 for two hours and £15 for a week or a short break (with several operators charging £6 for 48 hours and £12 for seven days).

Reassuringly, 80.8%of respondents have a secure WiFi connection, meaning that only those with the password can access it, and 83.8% of operators have coverage in every room of their accommodation while 9.5% had it available in a few rooms only and 6.8% had it limited to the communal area.

As mentioned previously, we welcome suggestions as to what areas of your business you would like us to run a survey on. Please send your comments and ideas to feedback@visitengland.org.