New York City Hotels Lure Travelers with PokemonGo Engagement Strategies
Recent Hotels.com research reveals New York City has nine of the top 10 U.S. "PokÉtels" — those hotels with access to the most PokÉstops and PokÉgyms within and near the hotel property*.
Surveying** more than 500 millennial travelers based in the U.S., Hotels.com learned that more than half of millennials (79%) plan to play PokÉmon Go on their next vacation, while as many as 48% would consider visiting a new destination because of the popular new game.
The PokÉmon Go craze was quickly embraced by hotels as they set up lures and invite guests to search for PokÉmon on hotel properties. Within the PokÉmon Go fan base, Hotels.com found that hotel amenity preferences have shifted, as players agree that free WiFi is more important than free breakfast and admit a preference for hotels that are PokÉstops or offer free lures. While many have speculated that PokÉmon Go drives exercise and activity among players, millennial players confessed they're nearly twice as likely to use a PokÉgym (44%) than the actual hotel gym (19%).
Americans believe public parks, landmarks and shopping malls are where they will find the most PokÉmon. American travelers (44%) who play the mobile game admit they would devote 2-3 hours of playing on their next vacation and walk up to 2.5 miles searching for PokÉmon. And 41% of travelers said they would explore more of a particular destination when searching for PokÉmon.
* Rankings were determined by analyzing the number of PokÉstops/gyms within a 1.25 mile radius of hotel properties. Closer PokÉstop/gyms to the hotel property held more weight in the overall score. The hotels chosen for this analysis were 'top' hotels in a range of cities based on gross booking for 2016 year-to-date.
**500 American adults aged 18-30 were polled by One Poll, commissioned by Hotels.com in July 2016
Surveying** more than 500 millennial travelers based in the U.S., Hotels.com learned that more than half of millennials (79%) plan to play PokÉmon Go on their next vacation, while as many as 48% would consider visiting a new destination because of the popular new game.
The PokÉmon Go craze was quickly embraced by hotels as they set up lures and invite guests to search for PokÉmon on hotel properties. Within the PokÉmon Go fan base, Hotels.com found that hotel amenity preferences have shifted, as players agree that free WiFi is more important than free breakfast and admit a preference for hotels that are PokÉstops or offer free lures. While many have speculated that PokÉmon Go drives exercise and activity among players, millennial players confessed they're nearly twice as likely to use a PokÉgym (44%) than the actual hotel gym (19%).
Americans believe public parks, landmarks and shopping malls are where they will find the most PokÉmon. American travelers (44%) who play the mobile game admit they would devote 2-3 hours of playing on their next vacation and walk up to 2.5 miles searching for PokÉmon. And 41% of travelers said they would explore more of a particular destination when searching for PokÉmon.
* Rankings were determined by analyzing the number of PokÉstops/gyms within a 1.25 mile radius of hotel properties. Closer PokÉstop/gyms to the hotel property held more weight in the overall score. The hotels chosen for this analysis were 'top' hotels in a range of cities based on gross booking for 2016 year-to-date.
**500 American adults aged 18-30 were polled by One Poll, commissioned by Hotels.com in July 2016