As social distancing increasingly limits how many hotel guests can be in public spaces at once, travelers are spending more time in their guestrooms—and more time taking advantage of in-room entertainment options. New technology has made it easier for guests to have more control over what they see on their hotel room TVs.
“Compared to prepandemic data, guests are casting more than double the amount of time during their stay,” said Kara Heermans, VP of user experience & product management at Sonifi, estimating in-room video on demand viewings are about 10 percent higher than they were before the pandemic, and traditional TV consumption has remained virtually the same.
Gary Patrick, CEO at Hotel Internet Services, said his company has seen demand for streaming capabilities more than double over the last year. Using the company’s GuestCast platform, guests can scan a QR code on the TV with their phone to connect the device to the display.