Travelodge reports strong recovery

Travelodge has reported a strong recovery from the impact of the pandemic and expects to benefit from the growing number of ‘staycation’ breaks.

The hotel chain reported a 1.8% increase in revenue in the last quarter of 2021 compared with 2019, to £185 million.

Revenue for the year was down by 23% compared with 2019, but Travelodge said trading had improved this year following the lifting of work from home guidance.

The company said it expects strong demand from leisure travellers, adding that 60 of its hotels are being upgraded this year.

Martin Robinson, Travelodge chairman, said: “The business continued to out-perform the market for the seventh year in a row and enjoyed a record-breaking summer and in line with our growth plans, we opened a further 17 new hotels.

“Trading so far in 2022 has been extremely encouraging, despite a slow start amidst the Omicron restrictions in January, and we are excited to launch our new budget-luxe hotel design, which offers a more premium look and feel whilst maintaining our great value price proposition.

“This is our most radical brand transformation to date and has been created in response to Britain becoming a nation of budget travellers, with more of us choosing to stay in budget hotels.

“The budget hotel segment, whilst not immune from the broader economic uncertainty, has proven resilient and continues to recover ahead of the rest of the UK hotel market; and we believe that the opportunities to grow our business have never been more exciting.

“With our large, diversified network of hotels, strong brand, value proposition, and focus on domestic budget travel, we are well positioned to benefit in the anticipated recovery.”