Travelodge announces £100m expansion plan

With the recent opening of the new hotel near to the Telford International Centre, the company now operates hotels close to the UK’s top 20 largest and busiest conference and event centres.

It plans to open a further 10 hotels in the UK, creating about 300 new jobs.

The 68-room hotel in Telford represents an investment of £6 million for the landlord, Telford & Wrekin Council, and is part of the local regeneration Southwater programme.

Travelodge said the hotel has been designed in the company’s new contemporary brand style; and will offer key accommodation to delegates attending events at the international centre.

The UK events sector is a strong growing market, contributing £42 billion to the economy in terms of direct spend by event delegates, attendees and organisers. This includes £19.9 billion spend for conferences and meetings and £11 billion for exhibitions and trade fairs.

In 2017, UK Venues hosted an average of 373 conferences and 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, Travelodge said there still remains a shortage of good quality and low cost accommodation for event goers.

To meet this growing trend, the company has announced that it would like to expand its current portfolio of 39 conference and event located hotels with a further 10 properties.

This expansion programme collectively represents an investment value of £100 million for third party investors.

Among the conference and event centre locations where Travelodge is actively looking for new hotel sites are ACC Liverpool & Echo Arena in Liverpool and Alexandra Palace in London.

Paul Harvey, Travelodge managing director, 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.

“Therefore 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.”