Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010
LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. budget hotel company Travelodge Tuesday withdrew from industry lobby group The British Hospitality Association as the company's new chief executive seeks to distance the company from the rest of the industry.
"In preparation of his new role as chief executive, on July 1, Guy Parsons, Travelodge's current managing director, has undertaken a company review and has decided to resign from the BHA," the company said in a statement.
"It's counterintuitive being part of a body which represents thousands of individual hoteliers when actually what I'm trying to do is put a lot of hoteliers out of business," Parson's told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. .
"It's just not appropriate to us anymore," he said. "I think our brand has got to the point now where it's big enough to represent itself going forward," he added.
"We don't need to talk through anyone else anymore," he said.
Travelodge operates almost 400 hotels in the U.K. and also operates in Spain and the Republic of Ireland. it is owned by Dubai International Capital.
Parson's said he didn't see himself as a hotelier. "Hoteliers just want to complicate things and muck about with things that just aren't important," he said
-By Michael Carolan, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9278; michael.carolan@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
15-06-10 1352GMT
