Travelodge sees ‘green shoots’ of business travel revival
Hotel giant Travelodge has said it has started to see the “green shoots” of business travel returning.
It comes as the business has launched a new online solution Travelodge Business for those making work trips.
Travelodge soft-launched its business service with nearly 100 existing customers earlier this year. Now, it is signing up almost 1,000 new companies to the service each week.
Craig Bonnar, Travelodge chief executive, said: “We are seeing green shoots that business travel is restarting across the UK as businesses recognise that travel is important to success. Business travel is often about building relationships and some face-to-face meetings are essential.
“Our research shows company bosses are concerned about their bottom line and how they can make business travel affordable and safe in the ‘new normal’, which is why we have invested in Travelodge Business.”
The hotel group confirmed that for work stays, the biggest rise had been with blue collar workers, particularly those working in construction.
White collar workers were “coming back slowly,” across city sites, according to a Travelodge spokesperson.
“As lockdown restrictions have eased, we are seeing workers meet up regionally rather than coming to cities, they can stay over, reconnect with teams, do networking and make it more of an away day.”
The firm had also experienced more bookings on the back of events, for example the London Marathon had helped hotels perform well over the last weekend.
“A lot more Britons are making the most of autumn weekends,” the hotel group added.