Hotel chain Travelodge resigns from British Hospitality Association

17th June 2010, 8:03am

Hotel chain Travelodge has resigned from the British Hospitality Association (BHA).

Guy Parsons, who is replacing Grant Hearn as chief executive on 1 July, has also taken the decision to step aside from the BHA following a company review.

Parsons said: "The BHA is a traditional body which represents the full hospitality sector from BBs to large corporate organisations. We see an opportunity to transform the hotel industry in the UK, and believe that we can do this best by representing ourselves rather than lobbying via the BHA."

"We have a strong in-house PR team and over the last couple of years we have championed a number of successful campaigns as diverse as 'Say no to Bed Tax' to the 'Save our Seaside' campaign (which focussed on the need to revitalise costal economies.) More recently we organised an industry wide coalition that called on the Mayor of London not to introduce his proposed hotel development tax.

"We have an aggressive growth plan in place, which will more than double the size of Travelodge hotels over the next ten years. We plan to do this by building new hotels and purchase existing struggling hotels and turning them into Travelodge properties. I think it's entirely inappropriate that we should be part of the BHA at a time when we could be acquiring other members businesses."

"The BHA has a role to play in representing the hospitality sector but we believe that our interests are now better served outside the organisation. We are an industry that punches below our weight. Therefore we will continue to work with other leading businesses within the industry, to ensure that the Government truly understands the tax and regulation barriers our sector faces."

Related Articles:

• 23 Aug 2010 - Travelodge cements presence in Edinburgh with 11th hotel opening
• 28 Jul 2010 - Travelodge to sponsor Champion Bottled Beer of Britain competition
• 16 Jul 2010 - Travelodge bolsters aggressive growth plans – by acquiring 52 Mitchell and Butler pub group Innkeeper Lodges
• 06 Jul 2010 - Boris Johnson opens Travelodge's 400th hotel in London Waterloo
• 22 Mar 2010 - Travelodge keeps expanding
• 23 Feb 2010 - Travelodge exchanges on 10 new hotels for £61 million
• 26 Jan 2010 - Travelodge to launch 26 new hotels this year
• 01 Oct 2009 - Travelodge and Marston's join forces
• 17 Aug 2009 - Travelodge launches first Essex hotel
• 18 Jun 2009 - Travelodge launch £100m raid for struggling hotels
• 29 Apr 2009 - Hotel room sold every second at Travelodge

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