Budget hotel chain Travelodge has announced plans to open 37 sites close to the UK’s 15 national parks.
The budget hotel chain, which has 475 properties in the UK, Ireland and Spain, said the expansion was in response to high customer demand for places to stay close to top rural locations.
Locations are being sought in places such as Aviemore in the Cairngorms, Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia, Grasmere in the Lake District and Minehead for Exmoor in Devon.
The company said its existing hotels within a wide radius of the main national parks achieved high occupancy levels far earlier than normal this year.
The most popular Travelodge sites have included Barnstaple (Exmoor), Porthmadog (Snowdonia), Cockermouth (Lake District) and Scarborough (North Yorkshire Moors).
The planned hotels will range from 30 to more than 100 bedrooms, depending on the location and building requirements. It is expected the expansion will create more than 500 jobs.
Travelodge has recently exchanged contracts on a hotel in Glossop in the Peak District as part of the development plans.
Chief executive Guy Parsons 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.”