EXPERIENCE

INTERREG FRANCE CHANNEL ENGLAND EXPERIENCE PROJECT

EXPERIENCE is a brand new project that will provide support in Kent to help develop the experiential off-season economy in the future. The project is a 4-year scheme that runs from 1st September 2019 to 30th June 2023, involving 14 partners in France and England. Led by Norfolk County Council, both Visit Kent and the Kent Downs AONB are core partners with distinctive roles underpinned by budgets of €1.6 and €3.1 million respectively.

EXPERIENCE is a €23.3 million project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (€16 million) through the Interreg France (Channel) England Programme. 

Experience aims to capitalise on the emerging global trend for personalised and local tourism experiences which increasingly provide the all-important reasons to visit. In particular, from Autumn 2020, Visit Kent, working with its local authority partners, will be looking to engage both tourism and non-traditional tourism actors across Kent in an innovative Product Development Programme. Its objective will be to engender a bottom-up approach that engages and gives SMEs a sense of ownership that will deliver lasting change, create a legacy of experiential tourism and encourage the experience-led business collaboration that is expected by our visitors.

The experiences will be designed to appeal to visitors between October and March. This will extend the tourist season and bring in money to the local economies of the project’s six areas of which Kent is one.

EXPERIENCE aims:

• To attract 20 million new visitors by 2023
• To generate €1 billion of extra spending
• Increase visitor spending by five percent in the off-season alone

At the end of the project, the new tourism strategy and learning gained through EXPERIENCE will be shared freely on our website. This will enable regions through the UK, France and across the world to take the experiential tourism model and tailor it to their own areas.

In the context of the current COVID-19 crisis, this project will be a vital activity for us to rebuild the sector throughout Kent and the Channel area in 2020-21.

For more information contact Visit Kent or read the press release.

Match funding partner councils of EXPERIENCE:

• Kent Country Council 
• Ashford Borough Council
• Canterbury City Council
• Dover District Council
• Folkestone & Hythe District Council
• Gravesham Borough Council
• Medway Council
• Thanet District Council
• Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

BUSINESS SUPPORT AND TRAINING DURING COVID-19

As part of the project, we are pleased to launch a series of free webinars designed to help your business through the Covid-19 pandemic. We’re working with expert businesses to deliver inspiring and interactive sessions which will prepare your business as we start to welcome back visitors in a new world of social distancing. Find out more here...