To make their lives easier. More than 60% of total respondents believe that traveling with technolog

When today s road warriors hit the trail, they are armed with three or four mobile devices to help them stay connected to office and home. They are more inclined to carry a tablet than a laptop. And, when these business travellers communicate with the home front from their hotel room, they are most likely do so with a video chat.
These are among the results of a hotel business and technology study commissioned by Four Points by Sheraton, a Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: car rental denver airport HOT) brand. The survey car rental denver airport polled a total of 6,000 business travellers globally, 1,000 each from North America, the United Kingdom, China, India, Germany and Brazil. Four Points, with the second largest brand pipeline in the Starwood car rental denver airport portfolio, is growing rapidly across car rental denver airport nearly 30 countries and carefully monitors the needs and habits of business travellers as part of its commitment to remain best for business. Four Points is perfectly positioned to help keep business travellers connected, offering fast, complimentary WiFi in public spaces at all of its hotels around car rental denver airport the world. Complimentary in-room Internet access is also provided across the entire North American division.
Brian McGuinness, Starwood car rental denver airport s senior vice president, specialty select brands, commented, The Four Points study contains compelling car rental denver airport results, including evidence that trends such as staying in touch with family via video chat preferred even over email, car rental denver airport text and phone are accelerating. McGuinness continued, The study affirms that the Four Points brand is meeting a continued need by offering complimentary WiFi or in-room Internet access, and by continuing to expand bandwidth throughout the portfolio. We know what our business travellers want and we don t nickel and dime them we just deliver it. Among the key findings:
They travel with 3-4 mobile devices. The majority (55%) of respondents bring three or four devices with them on the road. This is true across car rental denver airport all nationalities. Brazilian respondents were more likely than others to juggle five or more devices while traveling (27%), while Germans were the least device-dependent, with 33% reporting they travel with only one or two.
Smartphones are their #1 device. What three or four devices are respondents likely to bring? Smartphones are tops (74%), followed by tablets (65%), music players (43%) and laptops (32%). Chinese respondents were the only group to bump laptops out of the top four, in favor of cameras (30%).
Business travellers car rental denver airport are glued to those smartphones. After landing, the majority (54%) turn on their smartphone while the plane is still taxiing on the tarmac, while 12% ahem never turn it off in the first place. The remaining respondents wait until they re in the terminal or settle into their taxi/car (17% each).
car rental denver airport Checking their smartphone is also the first thing respondents do when they wake up in their hotel (36%). Only 19% turn on the TV first and 18% take a shower. Checking Facebook (12%) ranks fourth, while checking Twitter car rental denver airport and calling home share a distant fifth (7%).
Tablets car rental denver airport beat laptops. Nearly seven in 10 respondents (68%) use their tablet more often than their laptop, and accordingly a similar number (69%), if told they could take only one of the two on the road, would choose to travel with their tablet.
To keep up with email. For most respondents, the primary purpose of traveling with mobile devices is to keep up with email on the road (90%). This is followed by internet car rental denver airport browsing and social networking (75%), and maintaining communication with the office (73%). Least popular: car rental denver airport reading a book (43%).
In addition to all their hand-held technology, the majority of respondents report that they have visited a hotel business center (66%). They mostly do so to print business items (93%). They are also inclined to use the business center to print personal car rental denver airport items (87%), check social networking (87%) and check email (86%).
To stay abreast of the news. Overall, respondents are likely to subscribe to 4-7 RSS news feeds (46%), although respondents from India are more likely to subscribe to only 1-3 (55%). car rental denver airport Reuters is by far the most popular news feed at 21%, followed by the BBC (15%) and The New York Times (7%).
To make their lives easier. More than 60% of total respondents believe that traveling with technology makes their lives significantly easier and more convenient. However, the majority of German respondents report their lives are only somewhat eased by technology (53%), and 14% of Germans believe it makes life harder.
They J and LOL! Most respondents report they use emoticons (72%) and shorthand (77%) in their daily texts and emails. They do consider shorthand inappropriate when applying for a job (84%), sending condolences (67%) or emailing their boss (66%), but less so when emailing their mother-in-law (38%).
For friends and family, nothing beats face time. To communicate car rental denver airport with family, friends and loved ones back home, the majority of business travellers prefer to video chat/conference (67%) versus sending an email or picking up the phone (47% each). Instant messaging or texting is the least popular means (37%). Almost eight in 10 get dressed, do their hair and make-up before a video chat/conference. Chinese travellers are the most inclined to primp (85%) while Americans are the least (71%).
NSFW? Intriguingly, the majority of respondents car rental denver airport report that when they re traveling, their spouse/partner is more likely to surprise them with a sexy video chat (56%) than have flowers delivered to their room (17%) or mail them a card (12%). Brits and Americans have a slight edge on this particular perk (61% each), car rental denver airport while Brazilians are more likely to be left out in the cold (44%)
Four Points by Sheraton is Starwood Hotels Resorts largest brand operating in Canada with 24 hotels coast to coast. Four Points welcomes guests to locations including Victoria, B.C.; Halifax, N.S.; London, Ont.; Levis, Que. and Edmonton, Alta. where the Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway recently opened.
Great Hotels. Great Rates: With over 160 Four Points by Sheraton hotels in nearly 30 countries, travellers can find the timeless style and comfort they re looking for with genuine service and everything that matters most, all around the world. From Santiago to Shanghai and Milan to Milwaukee, Four Points hotels can be found in big urban centers, by the airport, near the beach, and in the suburbs. car rental denver airport A recent $1 billion invested in renovations, conversions, car rental denver airport and new-build hotels has made the brand stronger than ever.
Four Points by Sheraton, like all brands within Starwood s portfolio, is proud to offer the Starwood Preferred Guest® program, which offers a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates on Free Night Awards. To learn more, visit www.spg.com. Stay connected to Four Points on Facebook at facebook.com/fourpoints.
Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,112 properties in nearly 100 countries and 154,000 employees car rental denver airport at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and ElementSM. The Company boasts one of the industry s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com .
(Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors car rental denver airport that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results and events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly car rental denver airport update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events car rental denver airport or otherwise.)