Travelodge targets conferences centre attendees in £100m push to open new business-friendly hotels across the UK
Travelodge is set to invest £100m in establishing new hotels aimed at the UK’s growing conference sector.
The budget hotel chain said it would add 10 hotels close to conference centres to its portfolio.
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It is targeting three locations in London and others across the UK, including Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Bournemouth.
The hotels, which will create around 300 new jobs according to Travelodge, are an investment in the growing UK events sector, which contributes £42bn to the economy, according to Eventbrite.
More than 85m people attended events last year and the sector supports 570,000 jobs.
Business customers are a growing segment for Travelodge, and half the company’s sales now come from people travelling for work, it said.
Travelodge’s MD of international and development, Paul Harvey, said: “Due to the growing volume of events taking place across the country, there is a shortage of good quality and low cost accommodation close to event venues.
“Our hotels located close to conference and event centres are literally booked out as soon as event dates are released and value-seeking attendees will even book into a Travelodge up to 20 miles from the event venue.”
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This week the company launched a 68-room venue in Telford, adding to its 39 hotels which cater to the conference market.
The company last month reported revenue growth of eight per cent to £317m for the first half of the year, while underlying earnings increased £1.3m. It has built nine new hotels so far this year to add to the 567 it has across the country.
Rival chain Premier Inn said in May it is opening more than 1,000 new rooms in British seaside towns. It added nearly 600 rooms and 180 permanent jobs across the UK in August.