Budget hotel chain Travelodge will look to open a new hotel in the Great Yarmouth area to serve the Norfolk Broads as part of a �137m plan to target visitors to the UK's National Parks, it emerged today.

Travelodge chief executive Guy Parsons said the group - which has 475 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain - would look to open 37 new sites near Britain's 15 National Parks.

Its property team will focus their efforts on finding sites near to locations such as Aviemore (Cairngorms), Betws-y-Coed (Snowdonia), Grasmere (Lake District) and Minehead (Exmoor) - but also look for a site near to Great Yarmouth to cater for the Broads.

Travelodge said it wanted to draw trade from the 7.2m visitors to the Broads each year - and tap the visitors' spending power, worth about �419m annually.

The group already has two hotels in Norwich, one at Cringleford, Acle, Barton Mills, Lowestoft and at the Beacon business park in Gorleston.

Mr Parsons said: 'The staycation break is here to stay, more Britons are holidaying at home now than ever before. 'Traditionally, Britons have opted for a coastal or city break but as more Britons explore the UK they are rediscovering new holiday hotspots and as a result, we have seen a significant surge in rural breaks.

'Annually over 60m people visit the UK's national parks and it's clear that visitors are now seeking to turn their rural daycation trip into a staycation; in order to make the most of their time away.

'Therefore to capitalise on this growing trend, I have instructed my property team to go out and find 37 sites either in or just outside the National Parks.'

The size of the Travelodge National Park hotels will range from 30 rooms – the group's new 'metro' style hotel - to more than 100 bedrooms depending on the site.

The firm said the expansion plan would create more than 500 new jobs.