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The Heart of Kent Celebrates 21st Anniversary

February 2009

The Heart of Kent tourism partnership celebrates its 21st anniversary this year and to mark the occasion they are launching a new campaign "Kent's Best Stately Homes and Gardens".

The campaign will highlight properties which have both a house and garden open to the public. The campaign includes not just the well known stately homes and gardens such as Hever Castle, Chartwell and Penshurst Place but also the lesser known gems of the Kent country side including Godinton House and Gardens near Ashford, Squerryes Court in Westerham and Chiddingstone Castle near Edenbridge.

The new Heart of Kent campaign demonstrates how the partnership helps the county stand out against other UK destinations.A new Heart of Kent photographic library will help showcase the properties being promoted in the new campaign.

The Heart of Kent tourism partnership has been promoting Kent to visitors for 21 years and its website and annual holiday guide bring visitors to Kent from all over the world.

The website www.visitheartofkent.com and the new guide make planning a stay easy; they both have details of accredited accommodation from pretty B&Bs to historic hotels and luxury accommodation with leisure facilities. Both also have details of events being held round the county with some suggested itineraries to make a stay in Kent memorable.

Debi Rice from the Heart of Kent said "We aim to promote the Heart of Kent as a holiday and short break destination as well as somewhere to enjoy a day out. For the past 21 years we have been helping to raise the profile of tourism within Kent as it contributes significantly to the Kent economy. The value of tourism to the Heart of Kent area was £926m in 2006. The internet has proved an amazing tool for us to reach visitors and over the past year we have seen web traffic to our website increase by 60% and our online accommodation bookings by 50%. We are proud of what we have achieved over the past 21 years and working with other tourism partners together we can keep Kent in the spotlight for many more years to come."

The Heart of Kent works closely with Tourism South East, Visit Britain, Visit Kent, National Trust, English Heritage, Forestry Commission and others.