HOTELS looking to attract more Singapore guests can bait them with free Wi-Fi, found by Hotels.com to be the top hotel amenity whether for leisure or business stays for Singaporeans.
Some 62 per cent of leisure travellers and 78 per cent of business travellers from Singapore said Wi-Fi was the “die die” must have hotel amenity that decided which hotel they booked with.
This put free Wi-Fi ahead of other amenities including free breakfast, high-end linen, proximity to public transport and shopping outlets.
About 67 per cent of Singaporeans said free Wi-Fi is the tech amenity they wish would be uniformly available at all hotels, compared to the global average of 60 per cent.
Furthermore, about 29 per cent of Singaporean travellers would fork out for in-room Wi-Fi, while 26 per cent said free use of power adaptors and free bottled water are the simple amenities they appreciate the most.
Katherine Cole, regional director, Hotels.com, said in a media release: “Singapore travellers have always been highly tech-savvy and the findings of the survey clearly show the importance of such an amenity in improving guest experience.
“While travellers are willing to pay for Wi-Fi connectivity, hotels can leverage these findings and insights to incorporate this amenity in their package to remain competitive among leisure and business travellers.”
However, hotels should beware: Singaporeans are the second nationality in the world most likely to pinch things from rooms. Roughly 29 per cent of Singaporeans said “nothing” in response to being asked if they have ever taken and never returned something from a hotel room.
This puts Singapore in between champion Spain (30 per cent) and Argentina (27 per cent). In comparison, about 67 per cent of Norwegians, South Koreans, Hong Kong nationals and Danes say they have never.
Hotels.com’s survey was conducted by email from March to April 2015, polling over 4,700 respondents from 28 countries.
