Travelodge, today announced it has launched the UK’s first one-stop hotel website, where customers can get everything they need for their stay. This new service is part of a £1 million revamp of travelodge.co.uk, to widen the gap between the budget chain and its competitors’ web offer.
The award winning website has under gone a comprehensive make-over which includes a new look and feel to the site, enhanced architecture and leading edge functionality. New functions include:
- The launch of ‘Explore UK’ – the UK’s first service to be offered by a hotel company. It allows customers to view all attractions, sporting events, festivals and events within the area they are visiting. Visitors can also purchase tickets to top shows, attractions, concerts and exhibitions via the website
- Reducing the room booking process by 50%, customers can now book in five simple steps rather than ten
- The launch of interactive Google maps to help customers plan their journey and search for hotels using the maps. Users can visualise where hotels are in relation to their ultimate destination. This facility also allows customers to compare price and availability of each Travelodge hotel within the area at one glance
- An enhanced search facility which allows customers to easily find saver £19 and £29 rooms
- Customers can now order the following services at the point of booking their room:
- Breakfast with a 10% discount (Travelodge has recently launched a new healthy breakfast bag - ‘Light Start’*)
- Dinner – 2 courses for £8**
- WiFi (£10 for 24 hours)
Guy Parsons, Travelodge Chief Operating Officer said: “Travelodge continues to pioneer the leisure industry by making hotels accessible to everyone via low cost, location and now ease of booking. travelodge.co.uk is the UK’s first hotel website to offer a one-stop service, where customers can get everything they need for their stay. Over 87% of our room bookings are conducted online and this investment will help attract new consumers and offer our existing 6.5 million customers a bespoke service.”
The Travelodge website has won the number one award for ‘Travel Destination and Accommodation Website from Hitwise for the last two quarters Q4, 07 and Q1, 2008. The site drives over five million reservations each year and attracts over half a million users every week. In just over six months it has doubled it registered members to over two million.
Twenty Six London and Sense Internet Ltd have worked together to realise the new vision of travelodge.co.uk***.
In a recent report by hotel experts Melvin Gold Consulting (Commissioned by Travelodge) it was reported a UK budget hotel will be built, opened or converted every three working days**** for the next 20 years. The budget sector is set to treble by 2027, growing up to ten times faster than the rest of the hotel industry.
With the total hotel market forecasted to continue to grow at around one percent in each year for the next two decades, the budget sector will be growing at 10% for the next five years and 5% for the following five years.
The study recorded the total number of accommodation rooms in the UK at 729,000, with the budget sector currently accounting for 85,665** (12% of market). This is expected to increase to 225,400 rooms representing 26.3% of the market by 2027. Travelodge intends to treble the size of its estate by 2020, targeting a 10% share of the UK hotel market.
In 2008 the hotel chain will open 44 new hotels (4000 rooms) and locations include: London Euston, London Southwark, Tower of London Heathrow Central, Uxbridge, Glasgow, Cardiff, Chester, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Torquay and Stratford on Avon.
* The new Travelodge Light Start breakfast includes PG Tips tea or Kenco sustainable coffee, a cereal pot, a fairtrade flapjack or cereal bar and a natural fruits smoothies. It costs £4.50 and the eat as much as like breakfast buffet is £7.50 per person and children under the age of 16 years eat for free.
**Choose a main course and either a starter or dessert from our full Bar Cafe menu with this great value package*. And do not forget our Bar Cafes also have a licensed bar where you can relax. Package subject to availability and offered at selected hotels when booking a room online. Please see terms and conditions for Room Extras for full details of payment, modification and cancellation rules.
***TwentySix London provided Qualitative and Quantitative customer research. Created the new vision for Travelodge.co.uk and produced the information architecture (IA) for the site. Sense Internet ltd developed the code base of the site to integrate current functionality with the new design and IA.
****The average budget hotel is expected to contain 80 rooms per building
