"These new travelers don’t need tons of handholding, they shun human interaction, and know their way around everywhere they go."

The elusive "silent traveler" skips traditional guest touch points in favor of digital options. Travel information star, Skift, first coined the term earlier this year when they predicted that in 2014 we would see the rise of the silent traveler - and rise they did. These guests are, for the most part, a sub-sect of the Millenial generation, a hot topic in hospitality industry chatter.

Let's face the facts. Most things in life that initially sound wonderful often have a catch. "That new restaurant has an incredible menu!" (But the servers are rude.) "This new ice cream shop has the best flavors!" (But contains little nutritional value.) "I have the perfect guy for you!" (But he has commitment issues.) Unfortunately for the consumer, not all advertisements come with a quick talking voice at the end who rattles off disclaimers. Luckily we have online reviews to turn to. As a business this can cause problems if you have been toting the "we're amazing" model of advertising without ensuring that you don't have that "but" factor.

To assume that travelers will settle for a lousy connection or no connection at all is a monumental mistake. Honeywell recently put out a report that looked at U.S. travelers and their need for connectivity speed for in-flight Wi-Fi. If this is how desperate travelers are when they fly, just imagine what they want by the time they reach the hotel!

It is no secret that hotel guests today demand Wi-Fi. To tell a guest that Internet is not available, you might as well say that they only have candlelight in their rooms. Wi-Fi has simply become an expectation. The part that you still control is how much to give and how best to offer it.

PART I of this series covered the top 4 guest Internet trends and in PART II we highlighted 3 ways to optimize your guest Internet. In this post, we’ll explore opportunities for monetizing guest Internet.