Kent Downs in Top Global Ranking for Responsible Travel

Kent Downs in Top Global Ranking for Responsible Travel

The Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) has been long listed to the top eight global ‘Best Destinations’ in the 2009 Virgin Responsible Travel Awards.
The Responsible Tourism Awards are the most prestigious of their kind in the world. Founded and organised by online travel directory responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine and BBC World News, this years’ Awards have attracted nominations for a record number of almost 600 tourism organisations, destinations and individuals. Previous winners of the Best Destination category include New Zealand and the New Forest.
The Kent Downs AONB is one of eight organisations to be long listed in the Best Destination category, from an original 62 nominations. This category is for a resort, village or an entire country that manages tourism positively for the long-term benefit of visitors, conservation and local people.
There is extremely tough competition and a detailed appraisal process will be carried out. Nick Johannsen, Director of the Kent Downs AONB, said ‘we are absolutely delighted to have got this far. This recognises the hard work that my team and the AONB partnership has put into getting responsible travel to be a reality in the Kent Downs AONB. This has been achieved through the dedication of many Kent Downs’ communities and individual tourism businesses.’’
Amanda Cottrell Chairman of Visit Kent said "The Kent Downs AONB whole heartedly deserve this nomination. They have led the way in the county for a more responsible approach to tourism through the engagement of communities in welcoming visitors, extensive training for the local tourism industry and piloting of the Green Tourism Business Scheme."
Sarah Loftus, former Sustainable Tourism Officer for the AONB Unit, was responsible for the delivery of a series of projects that supported the development of responsible tourism in the Kent Downs. Each project involved working with Kent Downs’ communities to stimulate greater local involvement in addressing local tourism needs and also formed the basis of collaboration between tourism businesses and other stakeholders within each community. This led to a number of local groups becoming established, such as the Chilham Tourism & Retailers Group and First Light Coast & Country in St. Margaret’s, both of which have continued to develop and grow independently.
The 2009 Responsible Tourism Award winners will be announced at World Travel Market on Wednesday 11th November and in The Daily Telegraph the following weekend.

11.09.09