Could your town benefit from improving how it engages with visitors? You may already be implementing ways of communicating with them e.g. information points throughout the town, town website, weekly ‘what’s on’ column in the local press. However have you considered rolling out your very own free town Wi-Fi?
Telemat has teamed up with Pembrokeshire Council to install Wi-Fi connections in 10 town centres in Pembrokeshire as part of a £160,000 three year pilot project where the main aim is to boost business and tourism in all of the county’s towns.
Click here to read a full report on the project.
Why is Wi-Fi important?
Over recent years access to the internet has become a necessity. With smartphone ownership increasing substantially year on year this has created a pressing need for internet access. Bad Wi-Fi connection or mobile signal can have a negative impact on your town. Failure to offer reliable internet connection could influence how long people stay in your town, visitor engagement levels and whether visitors will return in the future.
There are many reasons why visitors require internet access. Here are just a few:
- New visitors may need internet access to gather information about the town when choosing activities and places to visit.
- More and more people wish to stay connected with work via email during their visit.
- Today is a social world. People need access to their social platforms to share their experiences and keep up to date with their online community.
- Tablets are used as a source of entertainment for children with many games and videos available online.
- Many people use their smart phones to navigate through a town. This can be done through various Mobile Sat Nav apps. For this to work effectively people need access to good Wi-Fi.
Benefits of free Wi-Fi to your town
- Ability to monitor visitor hot spots
- Understand your visitors
- Push out information about town events
- Promote shops and activities/offers in the town
In the News:
Cambrian News
Town centre Wi-Fi could boost businesses
Western Telegraph
On the BBC
Llandrindod Wells launches free open-access Wi-Fi
