Travelodge expansion to focus on UK cruise port locations

Budget hotel chain Travelodge has officially opened its first hotel in Dover and has announced plans to expand into 10 busy UK cruise ports.

The new 108-room hotel overlooks Dover Castle and is located minutes away from Dover’s cruise terminal. The Port of Dover is the UK’s second busiest and hosts some of the world’s most prestigious cruise liners.

At its 560th hotel opening in Dover, Travelodge announced it is looking for a further 10 new hotel site close to the UK’s busiest cruise ports in response to the growing cruise boom.

The planned expansion represents an investment of £60m for third party investors and will create around 300 new jobs.

The 10 port locations include: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Harwich, Hull, Liverpool, Newcastle, Poole, Portsmouth, Southampton and Tilbury.  

This expansion will boost Travelodge’s presence to 42 hotels at the busiest ferry and cruise ports across the UK.     
According to the annual UK & Ireland cruise industry report, almost two million cruises were taken by British Holidaymakers in 2017. This 6% year-on-year increase is a record high of 2 million cruise passengers according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

Tony O’Brien, Travelodge property director, said: “Today is a double celebration for Travelodge. Not only have we opened our first hotel in Dover but this opening also cements our presence at the UK’s top 10 busiest cruise ship ports.

“With more Britons taking to the waves, our Port based hotels are also benefiting from holidaymakers stopping over before embarking on, and returning from, their voyage. The cruise boom is still underway and predicted to grow from strength to strength; therefore we are getting on board now and looking for 10 new hotel sites at UK’s growing ports.”