Travelodge to double in size

The budget hotel chain Travelodge has announced that it is to double in size over the next six years, creating some 4,500 jobs. According to The Independent, the announcement comes at a time when the budget hotel market is intensifying; Whitbread has recently announced that it is selling its Marriot chain and concentrating on the budget sector, saying that its cheaper hotels produce a return of 14 per cent compared to six per cent on its Marriot division. The Independent quotes Grant Hearn, chief executive of Travelodge, as saying that his business could create returns as high as 18 per cent. He reportedly said: “There are around 65,000 budget hotel rooms in the UK. Estimates suggest that there could be up to 100,000 budget rooms by 2010. “That forecast, however, is only around 10 per cent of the total number of hotel rooms in the UK. In France, as much as 15 per cent of the market is budget accommodation and in the US around 18 per cent are budget-priced.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd