Travelodge is seeking to enter into joint development partnerships with local authorities across Britain in its aim to open 300 hotels.
The hotel chain is writing letters to 220 local authorities highlighting the role it has played across England, Wales and Scotland in creating jobs and boosting local economies over the last ten years, with the letters also calling for collaboration with other local authorities which it currently doesn’t work with.
Travelodge says it plans to expand its UK hotel network with around 300 hotels, noting its expansion programme could represent an investment of around £3 billion for third party investors and create over 9,000 new jobs across the UK. Local authorities in over 120 towns are therefore invited to ink agreements for new hotels in their regions in order to stimulate regeneration and growth.
Steve Bennett, Travelodge’s chief property & development officer said: Our research shows that, on average, Travelodge customers will spend at least double their room rate with local businesses during their stay; this can be an annual, multi-million pound boost into the local economy.
"Adding a Travelodge hotel can be a catalyst to attract new businesses, support regeneration, bring vacant buildings back into economic use as well as attracting thousands of new overnight visitors to the area and revitalising high streets.”
Partnership examples
In 2022, Travelodge opened three hotels in London Docklands, Wimbledon and Braintree, in partnerships with local authorities. It is also currently constructing two further hotels, delivered in partnership with local authorities in Rotherham and Colchester. It notes that agreements reached with these local authorities have enabled said authorities to utilise their existing assets, create jobs, generate income and help regenerate brownfield land in important locations.
Some of the new Travelodge hotels in this programme have been built on surplus local authority land, with the funding provided either through the local authority’s internal resource or via low-cost funding from the Public Works Loan Board or third party resources.
Travelodge says that upon completion of the hotel development, local authorities have the choice of either retaining ownership of the hotel and receiving an annual rent into the Council’s revenue budget or selling the hotel with Travelodge as its operator.