The Kent coast and its many tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses are to benefit from a £3,523,606 European fund to boost regeneration and provide training and marketing support to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The cash for the three-year Seaconomics programme, supported by the European Development Fund, is the result of a successful bid by the county’s tourism champions Visit Kent backed by Kent County Council (KCC).

They will be working with partners facing similar coastal challenges in Worthing, Essex, Westtoer, Veere, NeufchatelHardelot, Le Touquet, Blankenberge, De Panne, Middelkerke and Ostend  to cross-promote tourism and business development opportunities.

The Seaconomics funding will also help continue work already in progress in Kent as a result of previous successful European funding bids.

These include £3 million for Visit Kent’s Sustainable Tourism Research Intelligence Partnership (SusTRIP) launched in 2009 and £4.2m for its Coastal Actions for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) initiative.

In 2010 Visit Kent also launched a £4.2 million European Union Interreg IVA-funded Greet the World campaign promoting Kent and the Nord Pas De Calais in the run-up to the London Games and to create a lasting legacy for the tourism industry.

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Chief Executive at Visit Kent, said: “Competition for European funding is extremely strong and there were more than 40 areas bidding for Seaconomics support. I believe it was the strength of our case, and the achievements we have delivered from previous funding initiatives, that led to our success."

Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2012©