( CNN ) -- First it was the airlines , now it 's the turn of hotels to take the budget concept into the mainstream . Demand is surging for cheaper hotel rooms , not just from thrifty tourists but also from business travelers in search of value . And budget brands are responding to the demand with ambitious expansion plans . Not just for backpackers : easyGroup opened its first budget hotel in 2005 targeting short-stay tourists . Other brands are improving the . service to woo business travelers . According to recent research from market analyst Mintel , the UK budget hotel market increased by 38 percent between 2002 and 2006 , to reach £1 billion . This growth was three times that of the overall UK hotel market . And while top-end establishments prepare for a decline as consumer spending falls , budget hotels are determined they are recession resilient . Research from Melvin Gold Consulting for Travelodge last year predicted the budget sector will grow by a further 10 percent in the next five years . By 2027 it will account for over a quarter of the total supply of hotels in the UK with almost 850,000 rooms . In the U.S. , budget hotels already account for 33 percent of the supply and 24 percent in France , says the report . Premier Inn , the 500-strong UK budget chain ( that added 2,500 rooms to its portfolio last year and plans to add another 3,500 this year ) is now taking the budget model further afield . In March the chain , owned by Whitbread , will unveil a hotel in Dubai and it is currently scouring India for sites . The boom in budget hotels has been greatest in China . Here both businessmen and tourists , foreign and domestic , are relishing the arrival of rooms that cost less than $ 50 a night . There are nearly 100 economic hotel chain brands in China , over 1,000 budget hotels with over 100,000 rooms . Brands are both local and from overseas including Accor 's Ibis and Wyndham Hotel Group 's Super 8 . More budget rooms are likely to emerge this year in the build-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing in August . Home Inns , the largest budget hotel chain in mainland China , has built 400 hotels in just five years . They plan to grow this to more than 1,000 hotels in three to four years in cities across China as well as further afield in Asia . In Europe , Richard Cope , senior travel analyst at Mintel said the arrival of boutique and lifestyle brands such as The Big Sleep , the Hoxton Hotel and base2stay raised the game of the sector by providing an affordable but luxurious alternative . New capsule hotels such as Yotel and nitenite also helped boost the market , he added . The increased interest from business travelers in value from hotels has been a further boost . According to a recent study by TRI/BDRC business travelers spent 1.5 million nights in budget hotels in the UK in 2006 , up from 0.93 million in 2000 and only 0.38 million in 1994 . In the U.S. , 74 percent of travel managers that responded to a Runzheimer International survey last year said their business travelers now frequently use economy-type hotels . And although first-class properties continue to be used most often , economy-type hotel use is up 31 percent from the previous four years . Electronics firm , Royal Philips Electronics spends about $ 134 million globally on hotels every year . Currently three per cent of this is with budget chains , including Accor 's Ibis and Holiday Inn Express . This may sound small , says Roman Asboth , Philips ' senior sourcing specialist for hotels , but it adds up to an impressive $ 3.7 million every year . And that figure is rising , he adds . Travelers choosing the budget option , says Asboth , are not just from lower down the organizational ranks . Managers and even executives conscious of cost are also making the switch . As Asboth says , it all comes down to a perception of value . `` Travelers come back from a trip to New York having paid more than $ 300 for a lousy room that has n't been renovated in ages and they do n't see the worth . But they come back from a Holiday Inn Express , which is brand new , and they are more than happy . '' Phillips is also making increased use of serviced guest apartments -- particularly in countries such as India -- that offer the same level of quality as a four or five star property for a budget price . Sally Rademaker , travel sourcing manager , sub-Saharan Africa at Ericsson says while budget may not be an option in Africa , where they pay a premium for security at top end hotels , the communications firm is considering budget options in Europe and the United States where quality is better . `` Of course business travelers would prefer to stay in a five or four star hotel given the choice , '' she acknowledges . `` But if the reasons given are good enough , and we choose somewhere where the standard is acceptable and it is in a good location , then they accept it . '' Gerard Tempest , marketing director at Premier Inn believes budget hotels offer a genuine alternative to mid-market hotels with the same convenience and quality but at better value . `` Every guest bedroom gets refurbished every 24 months which is extremely frequent compared to the wider hotel industry , '' says Tempest . Premier Inn is also refurbishing rooms to a higher quality than some mid-market chains , he says . Following the acquisition of a chain of mid-market hotels last year , they invested a further $ 10 million to meet their `` budget '' standards . All desks and chairs in rooms are ergonomically designed , desks are cleared of clutter and Wifi is available in every hotel . Some Premier Inns also feature meeting space for business travelers as well as branches of Costa Coffee also owned by parent company Whitbread . `` Business customers are responding well to these and using them as meeting places , '' says Tempest . So with recession looming could this be the end of Egyptian sheets and luxury saunas for business travelers ? Perhaps not , but in cities where rates continue to increase even for poorest quality rooms , the budget option may not be as bad as all that . E-mail to a friend .
Growth of budget hotels has been three times that of overall hotel market . Demand is strong among leisure and business travelers in the U.S. and abroad . New hotel brands have helped raise the profile of the economical option .