Tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses are being encouraged to sign up to Kent Big Weekend 2014 which offers free tickets to the county’s many attractions.

This highlight of the county’s spring calendar will be held on March 29 and 30 to mark the start of English Tourism Week.

Now in its eighth year, this popular event promoted by Visit Kent, the private/public partnership, showcases the wide range of visitor attractions and experiences available across the county – from bushcraft, art and pottery classes to wild animal parks, historic houses, cathedrals and castles.
All free tickets and opportunities offered by businesses in the county will be promoted on the event website. Residents are then invited to browse through the attractions and apply for tickets. All applications are placed in a ballot and tickets allocated randomly.

Last year’s Kent Big Weekend received a record 92,000 ticket applications to visit 123 different attractions. Ticket seekers made 68,892 visits to the website which recorded more than a million page views.
Sandra Matthews-Marsh, chief executive at Visit Kent, said: “This is a tremendous fun event for everyone living in Kent and our visitor destinations and experiences.

“Thanks to our Kent Big Weekends, local people are now much better informed about the huge range of activities on offer to our visitors. And they are well placed to recommend great days out and places to visit to their friends, their families and their guests during the year.

“Eighty-one per cent of people who enjoyed Kent Big Weekend 2013 days out said they would visit the same place again and 92 per cent said they would recommend their day out to friends and family.

“It is the biggest marketing opportunity of the year for all our great tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses to let the county know about their latest developments, products and services.”

She added that every business offering free tickets would have equal billing on the website for their photographs, information, location, contact details and links to their own websites.

More information and registration details at www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk or call 01227 812912. The deadline for registrations is November 15.