UK’s first budget hotel chain, Travelodge, which operates 567 hotels, has opened a new hotel by Telford International Centre; and it plans to open more hotels close to popular UK event venues.
With the opening of Telford Travelodge (pictured), the company now operates hotels close to the UK’s top 20 largest and busiest conference and event centres.
Telford Travelodge, a 68-room hotel is located by Telford International Conference Centre. It represents an investment of £6m for the landlord, Telford & Wrekin Council, and is part of the local regeneration Southwater programme.
The hotel has been designed in the company’s new contemporary brand style; and will be the key accommodation provider to delegates attending events at Telford International Conference Centre.
The UK events sector is a strong growing market, contributing £42bn to the economy in terms of direct spend by event delegates, attendees and organisers. This includes £19.9bn spend for conferences & meetings and £11bn for exhibitions & trade fairs.
In 2017, UK Venues hosted an average of 373 conferences & meetings. There were an estimated 93 million delegates accounting for approximately 147.4 million delegate days. The average duration for conferences and meetings was 1.6 days.
With a growing number of business and leisure events taking place every year across the UK, there still remains a shortage of good quality and low cost accommodation for delegates / event goers.
To meet this growing trend, Travelodge would like to expand its current portfolio of 39 conference & event located hotels with a further 10 properties.
This expansion programme collectively represents an investment value of £100m for third party investors and will create around 300 new jobs across the UK.
The conference and event centre locations where Travelodge is actively looking for new hotel sites are as follows:
ACC Liverpool & Echo Arena (Liverpool)
Alexandra Palace (London)
Bournemouth International Centre
Brighton Centre
Edinburgh International Conference Centre
Manchester Central Convention Complex
Olympia (London)
Queen Elizabeth Centre (London)
Ricoh Arena & Coventry Conference Centre (Coventry)
The SEC Centre (Glasgow)
Paul Harvey, Travelodge Managing Director – Property said, 'Britain’s events sector is growing from strength to strength and we are delighted to open our 567th Travelodge by Telford International Centre. With this opening we now operate hotels by the UK’s top 20 largest conference and event centres.
'However, 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.”
Harvey continued, “In response to the growing events market, we are actively searching to extend our network with a further 10 hotels close to UK popular conference and events centres. This expansion will offer more choice and greater value to delegates and eventgoers, whilst supporting the local economy. Collectively it represents an investment of £100 million for third party investors and will create around 300 new jobs across the country.”
Over the last three years, Travelodge has experienced year on year strong growth from business customers who are also requesting for more hotels close to UK’s popular event and conference centres. Today, over 50% of Travelodge sales are via business travellers. This includes: corporates, FTSE companies, SME’s, entrepreneurs and the Government.