Tourism - Visitors complaining about poor broadband, Wi-Fi and mobile availability

The Scotsman reports concern by tourists about mobile and Wi-Fi availability.

VisitScotland’s [on-line] survey of more than 3300 people who took holidays in Scotland found there were complaints about large swathes of the country.

Just over half of those surveyed were happy with the availability of wi-fi and broadband, with only 66 per cent satisfied with the level of mobile phone access during their trip.

Tourism leaders say the issue of poor mobile, wi-fi and broadband access is one of the biggest issues facing the industry, with large parts of the country still being treated as a “backwater” by operators.

See the Scotland Visitor Survey:

The need for information “on the go” is going to increase, so having tablet ready information is a priority. Tablets have seen the greatest increase in usage over the last year so it is important to cater for this fast developing market. Smartphones also remain an important source for obtaining information (31%) and WiFi access is becoming a necessity in tourist accommodation.

29% of all visitors in 2012 used any online platform to talk about their trip, with 19% uploading photos to Facebook, Flckr, etc. but only 3% sending tweets (twitter). After the trip, 47% of all visitors used any online platforms to talk about their trip.

About 17 per cent were fairly or very unsatisfied with Wi-Fi and mobile network availability.