A room with a... PC?
Technology is not only the way many people find their hotels, it can now be make or break for whether a hotel is chosen. Taking your work with you, or even enjoying an on-the-road iPod dock - is more and more vital to more and more people.

An overall 47% make sure a hotel caters to their technology needs before they book it. And there is a gender difference on this attribute... 50% of men agreed and 44% of women. The highest agrees were found in Brazil (68%) and Malaysia (64%).

Murphy says of the Malaysian result: "A little surprising maybe, but urban Malaysians who travel are fairly technology-savvy and will want the same offerings outside of the country as they experience within Malaysia, where the high-end hotels are well set up technologically."

Lambert adds: "We are finding that it is now no longer an added feature to have wireless internet in hotels, but rather it is expected. Travellers, whether for business or leisure, need to be connected. Wi-Fi internet access is becoming a requirement for many guests, as they have fully adopted the freedom Wi-Fi provides in their own homes.

"Guests also want to have access to their social networks such as Facebook and MySpace... they want to be connected. In fact, we will start to see that travellers are relying on the internet for city information even when they have already checked in. This may even prompt a gradual switch from a "real live" concierge to an "internet concierge". Time will tell."

The lowest agrees were France at 32% and Japan at 36%.

Rika Fujiki, Managing Director for Synovate in Japan, says that, excepting business travellers, the majority of Japanese are not too concerned about the technology offering of a hotel because they can get what they need via their own mobile devices.

"When Japanese travel for pleasure, they care about what they can do and experience at the travel destination, meals, communicating with family and friends and, of course, hot spring bathing. Technology is not high on the list as it’s nice to have a break.

"However, when Japanese leisure travellers do need to be connected, they can rely on their mobile devices. They don't necessarily require access to technology in a hotel room."

About the Survey
Numbers of people surveyed

BR 1000

CA 1000

FR 600

HK 500

ID 600

JP 1000

MY 600

NL 900

UAE 600

US 800