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Travelodge Offering up to £150,000 (US$ 305,000) to Any Individual that
Finds a New Location or Existing Building in the UK that Results
in a New Travelodge Hotel Opening

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October 16, 2007 - The UK's fastest growing hotel company, Travelodge has today offered the general public a £25m bounty to help search for new hotels across the country. The budget chain plans to open an unprecedented 500 additional UK hotels by 2020 and is offering everyone the chance to get involved.

Travelodge is offering up to £150,000 to any individual that finds a new location or existing building in the UK that results in a new Travelodge hotel opening* (There are a number of criteria that needs to be fulfilled to gain the finders' fee. This information is available on the Travelodge property website @ www.travelodgedevelopment.co.uk). The size of the bounty depends on the number of bedrooms that the proposed hotel can accommodate. Travelodge will pay £500 for each bedroom, up to £150,000 e.g. 100 bedroom hotel will result in a £50,000 reward.

Travelodge Property Director, Paul Harvey said, "We are on a mission to open more UK hotels than any other company in history and would like our customers, staff and the general public to get involved. We have a fantastic property team that is already working on hundreds of sites, but you cannot beat local people for local knowledge. 

"We want to leave no stone unturned in a bid to make us the UK's number one choice in hotels. For every proposed site that results in a new Travelodge opening, we will be delighted to pay up."

Travelodge will open around 30 new hotels this year and is planning to accelerate the programme to over 40 year from 2008 onwards. The budget chain's average size hotel is around 80 bedrooms, but the property team is seeking bigger hotels in the future to reach an average of 100 rooms.

Travelodge is targeting almost every major town in the UK, with a major push in Greater London, the South East of England, and big increases in the North West and Midlands. The hotel company believes that two thirds of the hotels will be brand new developments and the rest will be converted from existing office buildings and hotels. 

Paul Harvey said, "Across the country, there is always a need to stay away from home whether it is for business, pleasure or en route to another destination. We can place a Travelodge in many different locations and in town centres we can have hotels above bars, restaurants, cinemas, health clubs, casinos and even doctors' surgeries."

Travelodge is encouraging customers, staff and all of the general public to inform them of potential hotel sites by contacting them via its property website www.travelodgedevelopment.co.uk.

Further information: 
Greg Dawson 01844 358644
Travelodge

*There are a number of criteria that needs to be fulfilled to gain the finders' fee. This information is available on the Travelodge property website @ www.travelodgedevelopment.co.uk

According to a Boston Consulting study on hotel markets, the budget hotel sector is growing at 10% each year and it predicts that the growth rate will be sustained throughout the rest of this decade and the next. 

A report by BDRC shows that over the last 10 years, UK business stays in hotels have risen by 40% , leisure stays by 80% and short breaks by 120% . UK Hotel nights reached a peak of 148 million in 2006.

About Travelodge

The first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985, Travelodge now operates 321 hotels (over 20,000 rooms) - nine in Ireland, three in Spain and the rest in the UK. Travelodge plans to grow its estate to 70,000 rooms (approximately 1000 hotels) by 2020 and aims to be the biggest operator in London by the 2012 Olympics with over 7,000 rooms in the capital. 

Six and a half million people stayed with Travelodge last year and 83% of reservations are currently made online at travelodge.co.uk. The chain employs 5,000 staff and is owned by Dubai International Capital, who acquired the organisation from Permira in 2006. In April 2007, Travelodge announced the first stage of a new online retail strategy when it became the first UK hotel company to launch a Travel Insurance product.

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Contact:

Travelodge

Greg Dawson
01844 358644
http://www.travelodgedevelopment.co.uk
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Also See: British Budget Chain Travelodge Planning a 3.5-billion-pound Expansion; Targeting 10% Share of the Total UK Hotel Market / May 2007
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