New Jurys hotels to create 1100 UK jobs

Former London Olympics boss Barbara Cassani is creating 1100 new hotel-industry jobs in the UK.

Cassani's Jurys Inns chain is upping its UK new hotel build programme, investing an extra £20 million and planning 10 new "mid-price" hotels by 2010.

But Cassani, who led the London 2012 bid before Lord Coe, warns the UK tourism industry it needs to "wake up" to survive the recession.

Speaking today at a high-profile Inbound Tourism conference attended by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham in Manchester, she said: "Tourism doesn't need a bailout. But it does need to come up with a compelling story to pursuade the world to come to Britain.

"We need to ditch the 'Cool Britannia' image which served us well under Blair for 10 years. Britain needs to show get up and go and rebrand itself. The world is a more thoughtful place."

She added: "Consumers want more for less. This means four-star, £150-a-night hotels are losing trade. Jurys is capturing those looking for basic but comfortable at £70 a night."