Travelodge looking to expand coastal network

Budget hotel chain Travelodge has announced it is expanding its coastal network and is searching for 26 hotel sites in the British Isles.

The coastal expansion programme would represent a potential investment of £165m for third party investors and would create around 650 new jobs. The hotel chain opened its first seaside hotel in Brighton in 1999 and has opened its 36th seaside resort hotel at Rhyl beach.

The group’s Rhyl Seafront Travelodge is the town’s first branded hotel to be located at the beach. It is also the company’s ninth Local Authorities development partnership.

The coastal development target list stretches the length and breadth of the UK map and beyond. Starting from Lerwick, the capital of the Shetlands, going down and across to Pwllheli, in Wales, and then down to Cornwall and beyond to Jersey and Guernsey.

Tony O Brien, Travelodge UK development director, said: “We are seeing the rebirth of British seaside resorts and coastal towns as a result of Britons changing holiday habits. We are becoming a strong Staycation nation that likes to take lots of short breaks throughout the year rather than a traditional two week block holiday.

He added: “To support this growing trend, we are looking to enter new markets and extend our network of coastal location hotels so that we can offer more choice and greater value to the modern leisure traveller. There are significant regeneration and modernisation projects taking place in seaside towns and cities across the UK, and we have identified 26 coastal areas that could benefit from a Travelodge hotel.”