Kent popular with ‘staycationers’

As the economy slowly begins to head towards recovery, more and more UK holidaymakers are opting to forego foreign packages and ‘staycation’ here at home. With a great blend of urban, coastal, and rural landscapes, Kent is becoming a highly sought after destination for European ‘staycationers’.

Over the course of this week’s British Tourism Week, the industry has seen a surge in UK attractions popularity particularly in Kent. Sandra Matthews-Marsh from Visit Kent told KOS Media this week at British Tourism Week that the county would continue to prepare for an anticipated large number of visitors.

She added that recent research shows that visitor numbers increased last year by 15 to 20 percent, and that most of that was due to UK residents opting to spend their holidays locally as opposed to taking trips abroad.

Tourism South East stated that currently the UK tourism industry has a net worth of £114 billion and makes up 8.2 per cent of the world’s overall gross domestic product. In Kent alone, 50,000 people are employed by the tourism industry, which accounts for £2.5bn of the local economy.

Visit Kent has been launched in conjunction with the Kent County Council and Medway Council as well as other participating districts. Visit Kent will focus mainly are marketing to UK and overseas holidaymakers as well as promoting Kent as a great family holiday spot.

The firm has already kicked into high gear to promote the county. This week they toured around with trade firms from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Belgium in order to familiarise them with the area so that they can promote tour packages at home.