21 July 2008

Travelodge by the sea, in Spain, everywhere...

You can't really blame anyone for being comprehensive about taking a holiday abroad this year and over the next few years. The price of petrol alone will make travelling by plane prohibitive in the near future. The strength of the euro, which until recently made your pound go further, has now increased to the point where it is more expensive to get a beer in Athens than it is in London.

So it is a clever move on Travelodge's part to invest in a number of hotels on the UK coastline. Apparently, the hotel company is going to open 55 new hotels near the sea by 2015. Travelodge itself has started promoting UK breaks, now that people are trying to find a way to save money, while still getting some rest from their busy lives. Apart from that, the increasing strength of the euro should make the UK more attractive to visitors from the continent. After all, the UK has a lot to offer, with its beautiful forests, water sports, and many museums and historical sites. Sure it will not be sunbathing on a beach in Spain, but if these hypothetical tourists wanted to do that, they would have stayed in Spain, or Greece or France.

Apart from trying to attract customers to the UK however, Travelodge is also very cleverly opening 100 hotels in Spain. This move should attract Spanish and UK customers, and could be the beginning of a move to make the brand more international. The hotel company already has two branches in Madrid, but with this increase will become a much more widely recognisable brand. Travelodge could be pulling an Easyjet move, providing basic budget accomodation, at several destinations.

Clever branding and developing I think. Lets see what else they come up with...

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