A new poll of business travellers from 88 countries across the world found that London lags behind New York, Singapore, Bangalore, Barcelona, Hong Kong and Paris in terms of getting online for free.
London is one of the world’s worst cities… for free Wi-Fi http://t.co/WJp33JGzYT @MetroUK @BuzzCity @CubanEightPR
— Josh Speers (@JoshuaSpeers) February 5, 2015
The BuzzCity poll found that New York was the best city in the world, closely followed by Singapore and Bangalore (both 10%), and Barcelona (8%). London lagged at a lowly 17th position with just 1%.
"Free Wifi is no longer a nice-to-have option and demand remains high among travellers worldwide", said BuzzCity CEO, KF Lai.
#BuzzCity's latest survey of mobile users from 25 benchmark countries → http://t.co/CM52gs5gJS | #TravelInsights pic.twitter.com/1KvNwdlc9d
— BuzzCity (@BuzzCity) January 20, 2015
But there is worse news for London from a second poll by Hotelwifitest, which also found it to be among the lower league when it comes to online help for travellers. In Europe, it is 33% more likely that a hotel has adequate WiFi than in the United States; but in the United States, it is 14% more likely that a hotel will offer free in-room WiFi.
Asia is at the top when it comes to hotel WiFi quality (49.5%), but at the bottom for the percentage of hotels offering free in-room WiFi (61.2%).
But London lingers low when it comes to an overall score, which includes quality and speed, as well as its free availability. Stockholm, Tokyo Budapest and Dublin all came top, with scores over 70%. Moscow came 7th in the world cities league with London languishing in 21st position.
Kristine Rose, vice president of brands for Hyatt, which is rolling out free WiFi for premium customers in all its hotels, said:
"Internet connectivity is no longer an amenity. It has become an integral part of travellers' daily lives and a basic expectation. Travellers shouldn't have to remember which brands or locations offer it for free or the strings attached to get it."
