More than 85% of the hotels in Romania offer free Wi-Fi to their guests, according to data from online travel agency Paravion. Free Wi-Fi availability has become an essential criterion in choosing hotels.

Ploiesti, Bucharest, Timisoara, Galati, Constanta, and Cluj-Napoca are the main cities on the business tourism map that offer the best free Wi-Fi connections.

“Most foreign tourists come to Romania for business and Wi-Fi internet connection is a 100% mandatory request for business tourism. The local hotel operators are aware of this and have adapted to their guests’ demands. Over 85% of the hotels in Romania offer free Wi-Fi connections in the lobby and, usually, in the rooms as well, where they rarely charge for it,” said Remus Visan, general manager of Paravion.

Some 65% of all foreign tourists travel to Romania for business purposes and choose at least 4-star hotels, according to Visan. However, leisure tourists also prefer to stay at hotels that offer packages with free Wi-Fi.

Romanian tourists also want free Wi-Fi Internet at the hotel, even when they travel abroad. The percentage of those who want to stay at hotels with Wi-Fi connection increased from 60% to 80% in three years, mainly due to the explosion of social networks and web applications that facilitate online communication.

“Over 85% of the total bookings we process are for hotels with free Wi-Fi internet connections,” said Visan.

Over 80% of the hotels abroad also offer Wi-Fi internet access to their guests, but some charge for this service, depending on the country.

Paravion’s analysis comes after the recent tweet of Bernie Sanders, the US Democratic presidential candidate, who said that the Internet speed in Bucharest is much faster than in the US. The travel agency invited Sanders to Bucharest to test the Internet speed here.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com