WHITBREAD, the hotels, restaurants and leisure group, is shrugging off the tourism crisis and creating 90 new jobs in Kent. The company with a string of well-known brands such as Travel Inn, Marriott Hotels, Beefeater, Brewer’s Fayre, Pizza Hut, Costa and David Lloyd Leisure, is pumping £6 million into the county.

It is part of a £22m investment programme across the south east. Despite the economic downturn, worsened by the terrorist atrocities on September 11, Whitbread says it has continued confidence in the Kent and Medway economy.

Its latest investments in the county include a £2 million Brewers Fayre in Broadstairs, creating 60 jobs; and a £1.3m expansion at the Travel Inn in Folkestone. Whitbread now operates 16 Travel Inns in Medway and Kent.

The company is also opening a new restaurant in Sevenoaks specialising in Asian food.

Kent-based regional director Robert Clewley said that despite the difficulties faced by tourism and the travel trade, there was “continued demand for high quality budget hotel accommodation.”

Mr Clewley added: “Whitbread is now a company that operates in three major growth markets - hotels, restaurants and active leisure - and is a leader in all three. We remain committed to creating job opportunities within Kent and Whitbread is leading the field in attracting new talent into the leisure industry.”

The UK eating-out market, which currently stands at over £25bn, is tipped to exceed £31bn by 2005.

Whitbread is already one of the UK’s biggest restaurant chains and is expanding rapidly across the county. It employs 60,000 people and owns more than 1,300 restaurant outlets. It pulled out of brewing and pub ownership some time ago.