Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson has launched Kent’s bid to be the most welcoming county in England during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The minister, who is also MP for Faversham and Mid-Kent, joined tourism champions from across the county at Penshurst Place to mark the start of a campaign to recruit 300 volunteers as Games Time Kent Greeters.
The Games Time Kent Greeters will be at key points along the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route, including the overnight stops at Dover and Maidstone, and at busy transport points such as Dover, Sevenoaks, Ebbsfleet and Ashford throughout the Games.
Mr Robertson said: “The 2012 Games are an extraordinary opportunity and, thanks to the work of Visit Kent and Kent County Council, the Garden of England is in an extremely strong position to take advantage of this opportunity on its doorstep. It is estimated that during the Games and beyond, the value of the Olympics to Sydney in tourism alone has been four billion Australian dollars (AUD).”
The Lord-Lieutenant for Kent, the Viscount De L’Isle, who hosted the launch event for Visit Kent, also stressed the importance of maximising the potential economic benefits of the Games to Kent.
He said: “This is a great opportunity to focus on our county, our identity, our pride and to promote ourselves to others. We need to celebrate our culture and our history and build on our success. We need to encourage our Olympics visitors to come to Kent, to take advantage of our accommodation, our excellent places to eat and all our historic places to visit. The Games have the potential to bring spectacular economic benefits to our county and we must all work together to deliver those for this year and beyond.”
Mike Hill, Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities at Kent County Council, also stressed the potential economic uplift the Games promised for Kent. “Kent’s small and medium businesses have already won London 2012 Games’ contracts worth up to £100 million – more contracts than any other county of a similar size. And there are more to come. We have the Olympic Torch Relay coming across our county, we have important training camps based here and, of course, we have the Paralympic Road Cycling event at Brands Hatch."
The Games Time Kent Greeters, funded by Kent County Council Sport, Leisure and Olympics Service, is just one of a number of innovative 2012 initiatives launched by Visit Kent in the run-up to the Games.
Visit Kent chairman Amanda Cottrell said: “We have been working towards 2012 for so long and now it is here. We have been showcasing our county at home and overseas – working with VisitBritain and VisitEngland, our European partners and of course our local businesses and residents.
“We are sharing campaigns and exciting projects with our partners in France and beyond in our Greet The World programme and we have launched a 2012 Press toolkit which is already helping journalists coming to Kent in preparation to write articles about our county and the Games."
"We are supporting our businesses through extensive marketing campaigns and our Fair Pricing Charter which will give our visitors the confidence to trust in our services. Furthermore, we are adding to the welcome being offered by our Games Time Kent Greeters at key events and transport hubs by offering everyone at the front line across Kent the opportunity to hone their customer service skills and their knowledge of the county.”
To find out more about Visit Kent’s initiatives including Welcome to Kent training and Games Time Kent Greeters go to www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk.
Picture: Getting ready to welcome the world to Kent – Mike Hill, KCC cabinet member for customer and communities, Hugh Robertson, Olympics minister, and Amanda Cottrell, chairman of Visit Kent