UKinbound, a leading travel trade association that represents over 400 of the UK’s top tourism businesses, awarded Visit Kent the accolade of Destination Marketing Organisation of the Year at its annual Awards for Excellence event on 6 February.
The award was presented in front of over 300 tourism and hospitality professionals at the Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner, which took place at Aerospace Bristol.
A panel of independent judges - Susan Deer, ABTA; Patrick Richards, ETOA; and Dr. Karen Thomas, Canterbury Christ Church University - compiled the shortlist, based on self-nominations from member companies, with the final winners voted for by the membership.
Joss Croft, CEO UKinbound said: “Our annual awards provide us with a fantastic opportunity to give deserved recognition to members that have excelled in their sector and we’re delighted to name Visit Kent Destination Marketing Organisation of the Year. Each of our members positively contributed to the UK’s tourism sector in 2019 and our awards allow us to acknowledge a number of their outstanding performances.”
Deirdre Wells, Chief Executive of Go To Places comments: "We’re absolutely thrilled to have received this prestigious award for Visit Kent, which is a huge testament to the years of hard work our travel trade team has dedicated to this important area of activity, as well as the wider team for their year-round hard work promoting our great destination to new and returning visitors.”
Several factors were cited by the panel as having strongly contributed to Visit Kent’s award win, including; successful engagement with inbound tour operators on two Discover England Fund projects - Gourmet Garden Trails of England, and England’s Creative Coast - the launch of a brand-new travel trade resource hub, and the roll-out of this year’s event-led #KentyTwenty activity.