Movement in the EU27 Hotel Brand Rankings 2011 is mainly driven by economy hotels. Best Western, Ibis and Mercure continue to make-up the top three, whilst Travelodge, Premier Inn and Etap Hotel see most growth.

Best Western remains the number one hotel brand in the EU27 with over 89,000 rooms and an increase of 2.4%, ahead of Accor’s Ibis (71,500 rooms) and Mercure (53,000 rooms).

Within the top 10, Travelodge records the greatest growth this year with 58 new properties and over 11% growth in room supply – development fully focussed in the UK. Also exclusively in the UK, Premier Inn’s aggressive expansion is enough to push it above Novotel in the rankings. Whitbread’s star brand grew 4.7% and surpassed the 40,000 room mark.

Among economy brands in Europe recording good growth are Accor’s budget brand Etap Hotel, cementing its position in the top 10 with 16 new properties and 4.7% room supply growth, as well as B&B with 12 properties and 7.5% growth. Meanwhile, other notable increases come from Park Inn with 13.1%, Sheraton 10.2%, Scandic 6.7% and Radisson Blu 6.6%.

“2010 was always going to be a difficult year, as pipeline developments were either held back or cancelled altogether. Brand’s that achieved greatest growth either already had many projects underway, such as those from Carlson in Europe (which include Rezidor Hotel Group, Park Plaza and Radisson Edwardian) , or were in a process of restructuring, such as Accor,” states Director of Development, MKG Hospitality, Vanguelis Panayotis.