A controversial £400,000 tourism campaign to woo Londoners to Kent has paid off by injecting an extra £12 million into the county.

Before snow made it hard for people to even reach the county, let alone travel around it easily, there were warmer times when thousands of people flocked into Kent and Medway.

M&C Saatchi, the world-renowned agency, was asked to come up with a distinctive campaign to promote the county as a great place to visit. The project was funded by Kent County Council.

The choice of Saatchi was criticised by some local agencies for overlooking Kent-based creative talent and costing more, they claimed, than they would have charged.

However, figures just released by VisitKent reveal that the campaign generated an extra £12.4m spent on short stays, equivalent to 100,000 additional trips. Visitors spent their money in hotels, B&Bs, restaurants and various attractions.

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, VisitKent chief executive, said: "That gives us a really good return on our investment of 30:1. For every pound we have spent, we have generated £30. We are delighted."

She said the campaign would continue next year as long as £300,000 can be found.

"The challenge is to keep it going. We've proved it works so we want to get the resources together to carry on next year and in 2012."

Kevin Lynes, KCC's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, added: "Behind the investment was a clear business need to grow visitor numbers, to swell the coffers of an already successful and burgeoning industry within Kent."

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