A hotel chain is offering ten pound World Cup rooms so commuters can stop and roar England on. Up to nine million* Brits will be caught on the road when Sven's men take on Paraguay, Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago in June.
With 42% of the UK declaring that the England matches will be the biggest TV moments of the year, Travelodge has announced today that it will sell roadside rooms by one hundred twenty minute time slots so commuters don't have to miss a second of England's epic World Cup bid.
Travelodge's Operations Director, Kyle Rowe said, "We know the nation will be doing everything possible to view the England games. With so many fans on the roads during this time we believe our promotion would be an ideal solution."
The hotel chain will be selling the new one hundred twenty minute reservations for £10 in all of its 152 roadside hotels during the England World Cup games. If England qualify from the group stages, Travelodge will extend the offer to cover the quarter final, semi final and final if England were to progress that far.
Rowe said, "We hope that we can keep the offer going right to the end. That will mean our team will be a great success which will really lift the nation."
Over a quarter of UK motorists will be on the road for at least one of the three England group games this summer as they head to or from work, relatives or holidays. Many fans stuck in traffic declared that they would take whatever action was required to get a glimpse of the national team.
Thirty two percent claimed that they would take a diversion and find a pub with the football on; 19% would track down their nearest friend or relatives house for the viewing and 2.9 million drivers would even drop into their local TV retailer to watch the match through the shop-front window.
The Travelodge poll of 1,000 UK adults also revealed that a quarter of a million men would sink so low in a bid to watch the game that they would knock on a stranger's door hoping that they would take pity on them.
However 31% of respondents insisted that they would make a dash to get home no matter what. Penalty points, road rage and other roadside hazards would be ignored as motorists admitted speeding was the preferred option.
Ninety three percent of respondents said that listening to the car radio was absolutely no substitute for TV and they simply had to get in front of a screen.
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PR Manager
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Notes to editors
- Research was carried out by 72 point in May 2006, amongst 1000 UK adults.
- Motorists Figures calculated on the ratio of 34, 423, 000 UK Motorists supplied by DVLA and adults (18 to 65) - 46,613,000
- The £10 world cup offer is only available when England are playing in the World Cup
- The offer is only available at motorway and roadside Travelodge hotels throughout England, Scotland and Wales
- Rooms can only be booked via walking into the hotel on match days
Scheduled games:
10th June England v Frankfurt game starts at 15.00
15th June England v Nuremberg game starts at 18.00
20th June England v Cologne game starts at 21.00
If England are successful to get through to each stage of the finals, these games will be included as part of the promotion:
Quarter Finals - 30th June and 1st July
Semi Finals - 4th July and 5th July
3rd Place - 8th July
Final - 9th July
- Room availability is subject to first come basics
- The room booking is only for the duration of a England game it does include half time and penalties