Travel Inn has unveiled plans to double its capacity to 20,000 rooms over the next five years.
The massive expansion is part of a £300m investment programme to help Travel Inn retain its 40% share in the budget hotel market.
The bulk of the new rooms will be located at city-centres sites under a new brand, Travel Inn Metro. A total of 30 Travel Inn Metro hotels will be opened in major city centres and a further five at regional airports by 2003. Five existing Travel Inns including sites at Manchester, South Hampton and Belfast will be converted to Travel Inn Metro, the remaining 30 will be created through acquisitions or the construction of new hotels.
Travel Inn is also launching a new brand image after research showed that the existing logo of a blue lozenge elicited a negative response.
Director of marketing Guy Parsons said: “When consumers were asked to choose their favourite hotel based purely on brand image we were placed third after Holiday Inn and Travel Lodge.”