BUDGET hotel chain Travelodge yesterday announced plans to invest more than £95m in the region and create up to 700 jobs by 2020.

The UK's fastest-growing hotel company, Travelodge plans to open 35 hotels across the North-East and North Yorkshire, with a total of 2,500 rooms - taking the total number of hotels it operates to more than 50.

The main focus of the expansion will be Newcastle, where Travelodge plans to open seven hotels with a total of 500 rooms.

The growth plans form part of a nationwide programme that will see Travelodge take a ten per cent share of the hotel market over the next 13 years.

The company, which has hotels across the North-East and North Yorkshire, said room numbers in the region would increase by at least 140 per cent before the end of the next decade.

Paul Harvey, Travelodge director of property and development, said the number of visitors to the region had risen considerably during the past decade.

"Newcastle, with its improved transport links, universities and culture, is attracting huge investment that is encouraging regeneration in the area," he said.

"This, coupled with strong tourist attractions, such as New Metroland, in Gateshead, is drawing millions of visitors to the region"

Travelodge, which is owned by Dubai International Capital, has set targets to add about 1,000 hotels to its UK portfolio and create thousands of jobs by 2020.

The group said that about a third of the hotels would come from regenerating and reopening existing hotels.

The budget chain's development team has been working on adapting its hotel format, to allow office buildings, factories and mills, and existing hotels to be converted to a Travelodge hotel in minimal time.

Mr Harvey said: "There is no doubt that the UK hotel industry will see a major phase of regeneration over the next decade.

"The mid-market hotels are suffering from a severe identity crisis as they no longer offer real value to the customer.

"As the more mature hotel markets in the US and France have seen, the branded budget sector will dominate the industry, attracting most of the mass market."