Am I alone in thinking the ‘Garden of England’ catchphrase for Kent ought to be kicked, pardon the pun, into the long grass?

I’m not going to start suggesting the old cliché that we’ve ‘concreted over the garden’ or anything like that, because, realistically, if you drive out of our town centres, you find yourself channelled through mile upon mile of open countryside.

There are still orchards, an ever-growing number of vineyards and crops left right and centre.

But it has been used now ad infinitum and has lost any clout it once had. Plus, realistically, in this modern era it sounds a bit, well, dull.

In an age where people seem to visit places purely because it gives ‘good Instagram’, billing ourselves as a garden given everything else we have to offer seems a bit daft.

What of the miles of glorious coastline? Do we consider that our backyard pond? What of the historic monuments liberally scattered around? Gnomes or those ghastly ornaments garden centres peddle? What of the lively restaurants and bars? Bird tables?

No, it doesn’t really work.

I write this, because this week a report came out by Visit Kent whose raison d’être is to get people visiting this fine county of ours, ideally staying a few days, and in doing so pumping much-needed cash into our local economies.

Tourism is, it should be said, one of our most easily overlooked industry sectors. But the fact it is responsible for £3.7 billion to our local economies and supports 10% of all jobs in the county suggests we overlook it at our peril.

One of the issues it raised was whether the ‘Garden on England’ tagline represents all we have to offer.

But one of its biggest challenges is the broader perception of Kent.

And they have a point.

Because if you think of Kent on a national level, most headlines are indeed generated by problems on our roads (think queues into the Channel ports at peak times/jams at the Dartford Crossing), Eurostar turning its back on us (which must prompt the question ‘why?’ for many), our seas having raw sewage pumped into them on what seems a regular basis, and, of course, small boats full of desperate asylum seekers arriving on our shores when the weather is fine.

What the above don’t do is say ‘relaxing/fun day out’.

But challenging macro perceptions when those of us living here can only really grasp the micro ones is a tricky one.

And, in truth, it’s something we can do little about. Because, as we all know, headlines tend to be negative. By the very nature of ‘news’ it’s the unusual which captures the attention.

Through little fault of its own - other than its geography - Kent seems to get plenty of them.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way and Visit Kent - which always strikes me as an organisation with its head screwed on and which works tirelessly behind the scenes to swell the visitor numbers so many of us rely on - will do all it can to highlight the overwhelming positives of this county we call home.

Here’s hoping they can come with another phrase that better works for Kent than the tired old Garden of England - I suspect readers will be happy to share their own in the comments section below… I have every confidence they’ll all be very sensible suggestions. Ahem.