Travelodge invests £135m in plans to open hotels near National Parks

14-Aug-2011 - Last updated on 15-Aug-2011 at 10:35 GMT

Travelodge hopes to open more hotels close to National Parks like this one in Kendal in the Lake District

Travelodge has announced it is planning to invest £135m in opening hotels near National Parks in response to high demand for accommodation in the UK's top rural locations.

The budget hotel chain, which recently revealed it was considering former pubs and office buildings for its expansion into cities, says it has experienced higher occupancy levels than normal at hotels close to National Parks this summer with sites such as Porthmadog in Snowdonia and Cockermouth in the Lake District proving most popular.

With the staycation trend showing little sign of abating and rural breaks proving more popular, Travelodge says it is working towards finding 37 suitable sites near to the UK's 15 National Parks.

Guy Parsons, Travelodge chief executive said: “Traditionally Britons have opted for a coastal or city break but as more Britons explore the UK they are rediscovering new holiday hotspots and as a result, we have seen a significant surge in rural breaks.

"Annually over 60 million people visit the UK’s national parks and it’s clear that visitors are now seeking to turn their rural daycation trip into a staycation; in order to make the most of their time away. Therefore to capitalise on this growing trend, I have instructed my property team to go out and find 37 sites either in or just outside the National Parks.”

Size and location

The operator says it has no timescale in place for its 37 hotels with each one dependent on planning. However, it has secured and gained permission to build its first National Park site. A 62-bedroom hotel will open above the JD Wetherspoons pub in Victoria Street, Glossop, near the Peak District.

Sites are expected to range in size - from small 30-bedroom 'Metro' style hotels to those with more than 100-bedrooms and the expansion is expected to create more than 500 jobs.

Locations Travelodge will be targeting are:

Brecon Beacons: Abercynon and Rhondda

Cairngorms: Aviemore

Dartmoor: Newton Abbott

Exmoor: Minehead

Lake District: Ambleside, Grasmere, Kendal, Keswick, Penrith, Staveley, Ulverston, Whitehaven,Windermer and Workington

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs: Loch Lomond, Ballock

New Forest: Hythe, Totton

Norfolk Broads: Great Yarmouth

North Yorkshire Moors: Whitby, Pickering

Northumberland: Alnwick

Peak District: Bakewell, Buxton, Chapel en le Frith and Matlock