Accor has confirmed it will introduce free wifi internet in all of its Asia-Pacific properties by the end of this year.
The group, which has close to 500 hotels in the Asia-Pacific region, currently offers free internet services in many of its mid-scale brands such as Novotel, Ibis (see story here) and Mercure, but not in luxury brands such as Pullman and Sofitel.
After the introduction, guests in all the hotels will be able to check emails and surf the web for free, but will have to pay for activities requiring a higher bandwidth.
Last month the Accor Asia Pacific Business Traveller Survey 2012, which polled 2586 people from across Asia, revealed that free internet was becoming an increasingly important factor in influencing hotel choices (see story here).
An increasing number of Asian hotels have begun offering wifi to their customers for free over the past few years (see story here). Last year, Marriott International introduced free wifi for all its Marriot Rewards members (see story here).
For more information, visit www.accorhotels.com
Nicholas Olczak
