Picture courtesy Rebecca Jane Photography

by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Kent edged out London to scoop a national award for the way it woos tourists.

VisitKent, the agency that champions the county as a great place for short breaks and longer holidays, has been named Destination Marketing Organisation of the Year.

Tourism chiefs were presented with the accolade at a gala dinner hosted by UK Inbound at its 2010 convention in York.

Rita Beckwith, chairman of UKinbound, congratulated the Kent team as she presented the award at the city’s Carlton Towers. Visit London was runner-up in the same category. The decision is based on the votes by UK Inbound members.

VisitKent chairman Amanda Cottrell was delighted with this national recognition for the organisation which is backed by private and public sector organisations such as Kent County Council, Medway Council, other local councils, Tourism South East and tourism businesses.

She said: "I am absolutely thrilled the work of Visit Kent has been recognised by winning such a prestigious award.

"This is the culmination of several years targeted work by an amazingly dedicated team, which has enabled us to build up excellent contacts and working relationships with key partners, who now know what a great place Kent is to visit and the amazing support they can expect from the Visit Kent team to make their trips a success."

Kent tourism is worth some £2.5billion a year to the local economy. VisitKent is currently targeting London-based visitors with a 2 for 1 offer with Southeastern trains. VisitKent is poised to sign a deal with world-famous agency M and C Saatchi to re-brand the county in a bid to encourage even more visitors.

UK Inbound is a trade association founded in 1977 to represent the interests of the UK's inbound tourism businesses. It is one of the leading trade associations in the UK with around 250 members, and the only association to focus exclusively on the vital export earning inbound sector.