September 30, 2005

As a whole, most hotels in North America were a lot quicker to offer Wi-Fi (wireless) Internet access services and represent approximately 65 percent of total properties connected globally.

Now, it appears that the rest of the world's hotels could be moving forward in offering similar services.

"Growth in the next few years will focus on two and three star properties in North America, as well as increased deployment in Europe and Asia Pacific," said Amy Cravens, In-Stat analyst. "In previously deployed hotels, broadband will be pushed into new areas and new applications."

In-Stat's new report, "Battling for Broadband: Broadband in the Hospitality Industry," projects that the worldwide ranks of broadband-enabled hotels will more than triple, growing from 14,300 properties in 2004 to nearly 54,000 properties in 2009.

According to In-Stat, in the total market, defined as all travel accommodations worldwide, broadband's penetration was only 3.4% in 2004, but that figure will grow to 11.4% in 2009.

Additionally, and according to the "2004 Lodging Survey" from the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), Internet connectivity has rapidly become a carte blanche amenity in guest rooms across the US.

The percentage of hotels offering high-speed Internet connectivity in guest rooms jumped from 23% in 2001 to 50% in 2004. In higher-priced rooms the percentage is even higher.

Source: eMarketer