The budget chain opens its fourth hotel in Valencia today
& Starts building work on a 250-room hotel in Barcelona
Today, the UK’s fastest growing hotel chain Travelodge strengthens its presence in Spain by opening its fourth hotel in Valencia and starts building work on a new 250-room hotel in Barcelona Rambla Poble Nou. Both hotels represent a combined investment of £40 million and will create 66 new jobs.
The new Valencia Travelodge is located at the airport – which is Spain’s eighth busiest airport and annually serves 6.5 million passengers. The 116-room hotel represents a £10 million investment in Spain’s third largest city and has created 16 new jobs. Rooms are available from 20 Euros.
The Barcelona Rambla Poble Nou Travelodge which is scheduled to open in spring 2013 is located in the heart of the business district (at @22 Barcelona). The ten storey hotel represents a £30 million investment and will create 50 new jobs.
These two properties have boosted Travelodge’s Spanish portfolio to five hotels and 602 rooms. The budget hotel chain already has an 83-room hotel in Barcelona Hospitalet and two hotels in Spain’s capital city Madrid – which include a 153-room property at Torrelaguna and a 74-room hotel in Las Rozas.
Guy Parsons, Travelodge CEO, commented: “With the opening of our Valencia Travelodge, we now have hotels in Spain’s top three largest cities. We know our low cost business model works perfectly in the Spanish market. Therefore we are accelerating forward with our expansion programme. Not only are we starting work on a 250 room hotel in Barcelona, we also expect to begin construction of a further two hotels, (295 rooms) within the next six months.”
“The demand for branded budget accommodation is rapidly growing across Spain. It’s been a good summer for Travelodge with total sales growth of 21% and brand occupancy of 83% across our Spanish hotels. Similar to the UK market, the recession has forced many Spanish businesses and financial institutions to make cutbacks. As a result, we have seen a significant rise in corporate business come through our doors.
In addition to the corporate business, we have also experienced an increase across the tourism sector. Over the last 12 months, 65% of Spaniards have taken a Staycation break. Just like Britons, price is a key deciding factor for the Spanish domestic market, when booking a hotel room.
By offering rooms from 20 Euros we have been able to capitalise upon this growing market. Also since Spain is a world-wide renowned holiday destination, 40 million tourists have visited the country this year. This is an eight per cent increase in visitor numbers compared to 2010. As a result of this growing trend our hotels in Spain’s capital city and Barcelona have greatly benefited from international business.”
The Spanish tourism industry accounts for over 10.5% of the GDP and its growth has been more positive than the overall Spanish economy with a year on year growth of 1.4%
Guy Parsons continued; “The opportunity to grow in Spain is enormous. The branded budget hotel sector represents just 1.9%* of total hotel stock. This is substantially lower than other European countries such as France which is 24% and the UK which currently stands at 16%. Our target is to have 1,100 hotels by 2025 and Spain will play a fundamental part of our growth strategy. Our aim is to have at least 100 hotels in Spain’s top cities.”
Spain is one of the most resilient holiday destinations and maintains its global appeal as a top tourist destination despite difficult market conditions. Britons are one of the most regular and loyal visitors to Spanish shores at 9.5 million annual visits. Although this year between January to August Spain has experienced a 35% boost in tourists from India, a 16.7% increase in American tourists, a 12.3% rise in holidaymakers from Germany and a 10.5% increase in visitors from Italy.
With over 2.5million visitors annually visiting Valencia, the new Travelodge hotel has got off to a flying start with a high level of bookings. Room rates start from 20 Euros. Each room has en-suite facilities, a luxury king Size bed, air conditioning / heating, a flat screen TV and Internet connection. The hotel also has a Bar Café which offers a 24-hour food and drink service.
With the opening of Valencia Airport Travelodge, has 485 hotels and 34,342 rooms (470 hotels UK, 11 Ireland and 4 Spain). The budget hotel chain plans to grow its estate to 1,100 hotels and 1000,000 rooms by 2025.
Notes to editors:
Spain tourist figures are provided by data from Spanish tourism group Frontur
* At the end of 2010 official data says there were 1,398,900 hotel beds in Spain equating to approx. 699,450 rooms (assuming an average 2 beds per room). Melvin Gold Consulting estimates there were 13,247 bedrooms in branded budget hotels at the same point in time, equating to 1.9% of total supply.
About Travelodge: The first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985, Travelodge now operates 484 hotels and 33,758 rooms across the UK, Ireland (11) and Spain (4). Travelodge plans to grow its estate to 1,100 hotels and 100,000 rooms by 2025. Over 13 million people stayed with Travelodge last year and 90% of reservations are currently made online at www.travelodge.co.uk, where room rates start at £19 per night. The chain employs over 6,000 staff.