REVENUE STRATEGY - TRAVELODGE

1. Travelodge, the budget hotel chain plans to expand its presence in Spain after a pilot scheme. Spanish consumers' appetite for budget products - and rising internet usage - made it confident the move would be a success.
2. It would open about 100 hotels by 2020 in its £700m programme - initially targeting Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia.
3. It will open about 40 new hotels each year in the UK until 2020 - concentrating its programme in the Greater London area, as well as Wales and Scotland.

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REVENUE STRATEGY - WHITBREAD

1. Whitbread Plc, the owner of the Premier Travel Inn budget lodging chain, is building up the lodging and cafe divisions
2. It plans to rename Premier Travel Inn as Premier Inn, which will cost 13 million pounds ($25.8 million) together with 9 million pounds of capital spending.
3. It plans to start a joint venture in India investing up to 150 million pounds, which will open 80 hotels with 12,000 rooms over the next 10 years. It aims to have several hundred hotels in India and China in five years.
4. It started building its first hotel in Dubai as part of a joint venture with Emirates Group, and has identified more sites in the Gulf region.
5. The company aims to expand Premier Travel Inn by 3,000 rooms in the U.K. this fiscal year after adding 2,500 last year and plans to have 50,000 rooms worldwide by 2010.
6. It has set a goal of tripling its Costa Cafes to 2,000 outlets in five years.

Old revenue trick: Go forth and multiply your outlets.

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REVENUE STRATEGY - STARBUCKS

US food firms and retailers are under pressure to reduce calorie content to help tackle its major obesity problem.
1. Starbucks is to switch to using low-fat milk as the default option for its espresso drinks in all its North American stores prompted by customer demand and could soon do the same elsewhere.
2. Consumers will still be able to request whole milk or other options such as organic or soya if they choose.
3. The low-fat transfer will begin in New York City stores next month and all US and Canadian stores will follow by the end of the year. Implementation in other countries would depend on sufficient customer demand and supply of low-fat milk.

Keep the customer satisfied… for revenue

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EXPENDITURE STRATEGY – MARSTON’S

Brewer Marston's has sold 279 pubs, which include some smaller non-food pubs, for £82.5m to a property fund Piccadilly Licensed Properties because a smoking ban is set to come into force in the UK in July to increase the average quality of its tenanted and leased estate, and to place itself in a better position to take advantage of positive market trends, including growth in pub dining

Pub companies are selling off sites or converting them to include facilities to serve food.

Will the pubs of folklore disappear therein?

[Click here for full story at: BBCNEWS.COM]