Summer Success: Port of Dover Celebrates a Record-Breaking Summer Getaway

The Port of Dover is delighted to announce the successful conclusion of this summer’s travel season, marked by continual increases, demonstrating strong traveller and freight numbers.

In July, the Port of Dover pre-warned its customers to expect a busy Summer Getaway and extensive preparations paid off, as the port and its partners delivered a seamless and efficient experience for passengers and freight customers.

Key Highlights include:

• A Decreased Dwell Time: The average wait time at the French border for vehicles dropped from 40 minutes to just 10 minutes, demonstrating the efficiency of port operations.

• Freight Traffic: There was an increase in freight traffic from 127,413 in 2023 to 129,716 in Summer 2024

• Tourist Traffic: Tourist traffic rose from 255,465 to 286,180 showcasing the continued popularity of Dover as a gateway for leisure travel.

• Coach Traffic: Coach traffic increased from 5,296 to 5,391 reflecting a growing trend in group travel.

• Passenger Traffic: Overall passenger numbers increased from 1,083,623 to 1,115,512

Doug Bannister, Chief Executive of the Port of Dover, expressed his gratitude for the successful season: “I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved this summer – a significant decrease in dwell time, combined with steady increases across all traffic categories, achieved despite a worldwide IT Outage that hit us on the first busy Getaway weekend, the increase in passengers travelling to the Paris Olympics and the reduced capacity we have onsite whilst we complete our infrastructure works to support the EU’s new Entry / Exit system due to launch later this year.”

“This highlights the effectiveness of our preparations and the hard work of our team and our operational partners – P&O Ferries, DFDS Ferries and Irish Ferries, Police aux Frontières, National Highways, Kent Police and KCC. We also pass on our special thanks to the Dover community for their understanding and support this Summer.

Our focus on efficiency and customer service has undoubtedly paid off, and we are thankful to our staff and partners for their dedication and commitment. It is testament to the robust planning and collaborative efforts we have put in place and as we move forward, we remain committed to maintaining these high standards and continuing to enhance our services to meet the needs of our passengers and freight operators.”

Toby Howe, the Tactical Lead from the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF), said: “We had an excellent team from across the KMRF partnership, including the emergency services, district councils, portals, and government agencies, working hard throughout the summer to ensure any issues were quickly identified and dealt with, helping to keep the road network moving and our east Kent communities protected.

 “There were some really busy traffic days during July and August, and Operation Brock and Dover TAP, the main tools currently available to us, have served to do their jobs effectively. So too has the pilot haulier permit scheme to prevent avoidance of the lorry queuing system that can snarl up local roads.

 “Ongoing cross-partnership information sharing, and traffic forecast monitoring will be crucial as we head into a new era with the introduction of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) later this year.” 

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

Dover is an award-winning cruise port, delivering world-class travel and visitor experiences to over 20 different cruise lines each year. With a growing and diversifying cargo business operating from state-of-the-art facilities, a new marina that is at the centre of the revived waterfront, plus opportunities for further expansion in the future, Dover’s proud history dating back 400 years has a new modern twist.

At the Labour Party Conference today, the Port of Dover unveils its new framework for driving national economic growth by unlocking the Port’s full potential, with a message that it can only be achieved by working together. 

The Port of Dover is closing the gap every day between the UK and the world by connecting trade, travel, visitors, and communities locally and globally, collaborating with local and international partners to create a more seamless, sustainable, and tech-enabled port.

As the UK’s busiest international ferry port and a vital gateway for the movement of people and trade, Dover handles £144 billion of trade per year, 33% of UK trade in goods with the EU, and welcomes over 11 million passengers.