Tourism Profile in the South East

Hotel Supply

The Dover area has a total of 21 hotels with just short of 700 rooms. Over three quarters of these rooms are in Dover itself, the remainder at Sandwich and Deal. Three star hotels dominate the supply with 42% of the rooms, but the area also has 30% of its rooms in budget hotels, boosted by the opening of the Premier Travel Inn, the largest hotel in the Dover area with 100 rooms. 25% of the rooms supply (and almost half of the establishments) are lower grade hotels.

The results of a more recent analysis of the tourism sector in Dover can be downloaded here.

Dover Hotel Supply — by Standard — 2003
Standard Estabs Rooms % of Rooms Av. Size of Hotel (Rooms)
4 star - - - -
3 star 7 293 43 42
2 star 1 19 3 19
Budget 3 204 30 68
Country Inns - - - -
Lower Grade 10 172 25 17
Total Supply 21 688 100.0 33
Dover Hotels — 2003
Hotel Location Rooms Grading
Churchill (Best Western) Dover 66 3 Star
Ramada Dover 68 3 Star
Walletts Court Country House Hotel Dover 16 3 Star
County Dover 72 3 Star
Premier Travel Inn Dover 100 Budget
Premier Travel Inn Dover 40 Budget
Premier Travel Inn West Dover 69 Budget
Clyffe Inn Dover 12 Lower Grade
Gateway Hovertel Dover 27 Lower Grade
Webbs Dover 24 Lower Grade
St Margarets Dover 21 Lower Grade
The Bell Sandwich 33 3 Star
Blazing Donkey Sandwich 19 2 Star
Fleur de Lis Sandwich 12 Lower Grade
Dunkerleys Deal 16 3 Star
Royal Deal 22 3 Star
Beachbarrow Deal 14 Lower Grade
Chequers Deal 14 Lower Grade
Guildford House Deal 11 Lower Grade
Clarendon Deal 16 Lower Grade

Hotel Demand

3 star hotel performance in Dover varies between hotels; occupancy averaged 58% in 2002, but some hotels significantly out-performed this, with occupancies as high as 78%. Average room rates in 2002 were £41. The market mix for Dover’s 3 star hotels is fairly evenly split between business and leisure markets.

In Deal and Sandwich, occupancy in 3 star hotels averaged 71% in 2002, with a similar seasonal peaking to Dover hotels and a 60/65%-35/40% business mix. 3 star hotels here are regularly declining business during the week and on Saturdays and summer weekends.

Budget hotels in Dover perform at a higher occupancy level, averaging 71%, with a range of 61-88%. Occupancies appear to be growing. Thursday to Saturday occupancies are generally 80-90% and higher than Monday to Wednesday, though one Dover budget hotel reported mid-week occupancies of 95-100%. There is a seasonal dimension to demand with the summer and school holidays being strongest and significant amounts of business being denied. Some hotels also regularly decline business during the week and weekend throughout the year. Key markets relate to the ferries, contract workers and business visitors en-route to Europe.

Hotel Development Opportunities

Hotels in Dover and its surrounds are optimistic about future prospects. The development of the Port of Dover will see significant levels of investment here over the next 15-20 years, including the development of Westport, a major new facility for freight, ferry and cruise traffic.

At Deal and Sandwich, the leisure market in particular is forecast to grow, particularly golf break related business due to the legacy of the British Open Golf Championship and the investment at the Princes Golf Club.

In terms of development potential the principal opportunity for new hotel development is for:

Potential Hotel Devlopment Sites

A recent study conducted by Locate in Kent identified the following potential site:

  1. Western Docks

More information for hotel developers in Dover can be found on the Dover page of the Locate in Kent website's 'Hotel Sites' pages