Business guests drive Travelodge turnover to £600m
Travelodge has revealed that it intends to open around 60 hotels over the next three years as it announced that revenue for the budget brand increased by 6.8% to £597.8m during 2016.
The year saw the group increase its share of business guests to more than 50% and the opening of 19 new hotels, while revenue per available room grew by 2.5% to £39.34 and EBITDA increased by 4.7% to £110.1m.
However, UK like-for-like occupancy was down by 0.5 percentage point, to 76.1%. Growth of business customers and improved conversion rates from Travelodge's upgraded website and improved yield management helped drive like-for-like average room rate up 3.1% to £51.70.
Peter Gowers, chief executive of Travelodge, said that despite the short-term economic uncertainty, the company believes there is "considerable further potential to expand our network over the years ahead, and expect to open an average of 20 hotels each year over the next three years".
He continued: "Clearly the macroeconomic picture remains uncertain and there are increased cost pressures from the national living wage, business rates and other regulated cost increases.
"However, our growing brand reputation and strong development pipeline position us well to benefit from the opportunities presented by businesses looking to reduce travel costs in uncertain times and leisure travellers opting for staycations as an alternative to higher priced foreign travel."
By the end of 2016, Travelodge had 543 hotels and 40,847 rooms.
Travelodge to open 15 hotels in 2017 >>
Craig Bonnar leaves Asda for COO role at Travelodge >>
Travelodge returns to the black with pre-tax profit of £5.9m >>
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