Stay at homes fuel Travelodge hotels’ £246m expansion

BUDGET hotel chain Travelodge is to open three new hotels in Scotland within the next year, as well as identifying a further 13 target sites.

The firm will open two hotels in Edinburgh and one in Fort William as part of an expansion that will see it invest £246 million in 41 new sites across the UK.

Travelodge, which will have more than 500 hotels in the UK by the end of the year, also hopes to open 13 new premises at places including Edinburgh Zoo, Loch Lomond and Orkney.

The company said the opening of new hotels in the capital’s Queen Street and Princes Street in March and May respectively would create 50 jobs and be worth around £1.8 million to the local economy each year.

A 60-bed hotel will also be opened in Fort William in October, creating 15 jobs and bringing around £950,000 to the local economy, the firm said.

Guy Parsons, Travelodge’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to be opening even more new hotels and creating even more new jobs this year compared to 2011.

“Despite the ongoing tough economic climate, Travelodge is continuing to open hotels at a faster rate than anyone else and create much needed jobs – which is exactly what the British economy needs right now.

“The demand for good quality budget accommodations is growing at such pace across the country, that we have added 146 new UK locations to our target requirements list. Therefore we can build more hotels in the locations where consumers need them.

“Our ability to raise finance means that we are able to move quickly when other companies remain strangled by red tape. This, coupled with our ability to be flexible and innovative in terms of the development schemes we can undertake, ensures we are in a very strong position to achieve our growth target of having 1,000 hotels by 2020.”

Among the 146 sites on Travelodge’s target list are 13 in Scotland, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Lomond, Orkney and St Andrews, which the firm said underlined the strength of the growing “staycation” trend.

Research published towards the end of last year showed the burgeoning staycation market of those choosing to holiday at home rather than travel abroad had added around £90m to Scotland’s tourism income and help offset a slump in the level of spending by foreign visitors.

John Lennon, head of the tourism unit at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “At the end of the day, this is investment and you have to look at that positively. The big question is how all these new hotels will displace traditional demand. In the budget sector, guest houses and B&Bs, in particular, will face increased competition.

“These (Travelodge) hotels are the same anywhere you go, but people are buying that. We all go to Tesco and their stores are all very similar, whether you are in London or Glasgow. The price offer at these hotels is a hard one to beat and the formula is very strong. Small hotels and B&Bs have to do something different – they have to be unique.”

Robin Worsnop, managing director of Rabbie’s Trail Burners and chairman of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group, said the new Travelodge hotels were a welcome addition to the market.

He said: “This is a positive thing and hopefully it doesn’t diminish what’s on offer, but adds to it.”