Travelodge offers free stay to Marys & Josephs at Christmas

On the night of Christmas married couples in Britain, Ireland and Spain whose names are Mary and Joseph will sleep free at the Travelodge hotel chain if they match a few criteria. The offer made by the hotel chain could turn out to be an expensive promotion but nowhere near the value of the excellent publicity and goodwill that will be gained from it.

The story is already circulating the globe and people who never heard of or considered Travelodge in their travel plans will now do so thanks to this highly successful public relations strategy.

If Travelodge is lucky, it may not turn out to be an expense at all but a great investment. The Marys and Josephs who get to book a room in time - if the goodwill rush doesn't beat them to it and the hotels are booked up - could even become spenders themselves, refer others to the hotel and a host of other revenue streams could flow out of the brilliant idea.

The offer is valid from December 24, 2007 to January 5, 2008. To claim their free Travelodge night's stay, Mary and Joseph just need to register their details at: Christmas@travelodge.co.uk. They will be asked to send proof of ID. Upon receipt of the requested information a voucher will be sent to them to use between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night.

The one thing Travelodge's press office is not getting right though is that the process for journalists to get images off its website requires one step too many.

---
Photo by Doilum