About Us - Visit Kent Business

Visit Kent is a public/private partnership with an industry-led board. As a Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), we are recognised by VisitEngland as the official Destination Management Organisation for Kent and Medway.

We are also recognised by the two upper-tier local authorities Kent County Council and Medway Council, the 12 district councils and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as the official Destination Management Organisation for Kent and Medway, responsible for supporting and growing the tourism industry.

Tourism contributes £4.1 billion to the Kent economy and supports more than 81, 458 jobs (Cambridge Economic Impact Survey 2019).

Tourism in Kent has never experienced the benefits of substantial national and regional government funding. As a result of this, Visit Kent formed in 2002, developing a collaborative approach in order to fund its operation. What has emerged is a public/private sector partnership supported by Kent County Council, Medway Council, the District and Borough Councils, and the leading private sector tourism businesses.

Research demonstrates that Kent has a clear and strong identity that is recognised by its residents, its businesses and visitors. It has a strong tourism product with a rich heritage, areas of outstanding natural beauty, iconic chalk cliff coastline and blue flag beaches, quality local produce and a vibrant cultural and arts offer. There is a cohesive business base of varied and distinctive tourism interests including historic houses, attractions, accommodation providers, transport operators, catering suppliers and retail - all working together within Visit Kent. In addition, the industry has always enjoyed strong local political leadership and support. It is this shared identity and focus that helps Visit Kent to deliver an ambitious tourism strategy for the benefit of all.

Visit Kent has brought its local authorities and businesses together to bid successfully for many European funding programmes worth millions of Euros; to run innovative marketing campaigns and to drive forward major new initiatives such as the popular Big Weekend campaign showcasing our industry to local residents and encouraging them to be local ambassadors.

Visit Kent also offers tourism businesses access to a sector-specific B2B support network. This includes business advice, subsidised training courses in both classroom and online formats, a monthly Business Barometer to track how the Kent tourism industry is performing and allow peer benchmarking, networking events and much more.

Visit Kent takes a lead in the place-making agenda for the county. Through discussions with key stakeholders, it has developed a brand strategy around 'the Garden of England' proposition and has influenced the recognition of tourism in key planning, regeneration and economic development strategies. It also takes a proactive role in securing hotel investment, supporting the growing cultural and leisure offer, getting improvements in infrastructure and signage management.

Visit Kent interacts at a regional and national level with VisitEngland and VisitBritain. It has won several awards for its work and has been acknowledged as one of the leading DMO's in England by Visit England. Its Chairman is Doug Bannister, and it's Chief Executive is Deirdre Wells OBE, who is also a Family Holiday Association Ambassador and a regular speaker at national and regional conferences and events.

Visit Kent strives to be adaptable in its delivery and business model and has remained flexible in its response to changes in the market, within the sector it serves and to the wider tourism infrastructure.

"In the past decade Visit Kent has been a dynamic DMO; proactively engaging local public and private stakeholders and providing leadership for the sector within Kent. Nationally, the organisation has worked in partnership with VisitEngland and other destinations to collectively grow England's visitor economy by actively supporting (and leading parts of) the Strategic Framework for Tourism in England."

— James Berresford, Former Chief Executive, VisitEngland

"If Government looked closely at Visit Kent it could be a good template for the country. We are very lucky here and we have not had a lot of public money invested. Other areas all compete with each other. In Kent we are all working together."

— Duncan Leslie, Hever Castle

"Visit Kent campaigns are set to deliver a great return on investment for both public and private sector stakeholders. The county should be proud and shout loud - Kent is the Garden of England for all ages and for all tastes. And it's yours!"

— Juliana Delaney, Continuum Group

"Kent and Pas-de-Calais have been partners in sustainable European projects for nearly 25 years; creating links between local people, developing understanding of our cultures and boosting the tourist economy across the Transmanche region."

— Diana Hounslow, Directrice, Pas-de-Calais Tourisme

"Thanks to the Visit Kent team assembling a significant bid for grant aid to the EU, the massive support that the company gets from Kent's leading tourism businesses and the support we are able to lend from the public sector, Visit Kent has proved itself to be an effective and efficiently run partnership."

— Barbara Cooper, Kent County Council

"We could not do what we do without Visit Kent. We invest in them and they invest in us."

— Sarah Wood, Mulberry Cottages