Visit Kent shuts down: a warning sign for UK tourism

The sudden closure of Visit Kent on 3 September will have a profound impact on the local economy. Established in 2002, the organisation’s aim was to attract funding and develop tourism in the Garden of England. It worked in close partnership with local authorities in the county and attracted over £25mn of UK and EU funding. It also promoted sustainable tourism by supporting active travel (cycling and walking) and local businesses, notably through its ‘Impact Heroes’ programme and related partnerships. Visit Kent’s success has contributed significantly to the county’s tourist economy, now worth £4.1bn. Kent welcomes 66.5 million domestic and international visitors a year and its tourist industry employs over 80,000 people, around 11% of the local workforce.

Reasons for Visit Kent’s closure

Visit Kent’s closure follows the insolvency of its parent company, tourism consultancy Go to Places, also based in Canterbury. Go to Places was established to offer tourism consultancy services to similar organisations and counted Visit Hertfordshire among its clients. Chair of Go to Places Doug Bannister said in a statement: “This is not a decision we have arrived at lightly and the situation has arisen not through any single decision or failure, but as a result of a complex and challenging set of circumstances that reflect the wider economic pressures facing the UK’s public and tourism sectors”.

Although the pressures facing Visit Kent were not specified, the headwinds affecting Kent’s tourism sector are undoubtedly linked to the sluggish economy, the economic pressures facing the government and wider issues, such as the impact on tourism of post-Brexit border controls.

Impact on Kent events and programmes

The closure has left many initiatives and programmes in a state of uncertainty. An example is Visit Kent’s popular ‘Kent Big Weekend’, held every April. It offers free tickets to tourist attractions to local families. Paul King, Kent County Council (KCC) Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Coastal Regeneration said: “This is a sad day for Kent and will undoubtedly impact the profile and marketing reach of our great county as a tourist destination.” He added that KCC would be “writing to Government to seek support for the sector”.

Government’s mixed signals on tourism

However, the government’s position on support for tourism is inconsistent. In November 2024, the tourism minister, Sir Chris Bryant, announced the government’s intention to increase international visitor numbers from 38 million to 50 million visitors a year and to improve the “overall visitor experience”. Before the pandemic, the figure was 41 million international visitors a year. Tourism is valued at £74bn to the national economy and according to Mr Bryant’s speech, has significant potential to support the government’s economic growth ambitions. To that end, a Visitor Economy Advisory Council has been established to foster collaboration between the government and industry. It is due to start work this Autumn.

Despite Chris Bryant’s hopes, the UK’s aspiration to be a leading destination for international tourism suffered a significant blow following Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s June 2025 Spending Review. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS’) budget will be cut. DCMS supports tourism via its sponsorship of VisitBritain and VisitEngland, the country’s official tourism bodies, and budget reductions are expected.

This is a concern because VisitBritain’s funding has already been reduced by 41%. Announced on 1 April with 24 hours’ notice, this cut reduced VisitBritain’s ‘GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland’ promotion budget from £18.85 million in 2024-2025 to £10.57 million in 2025-2026. Industry leaders believe this decision will undermine initiatives to attract global conferences, trade shows, and investment-generating tourist and business events, posing further challenges for the sector.

Impact of Brexit

Slow growth in UK visitor numbers can be partially attributed to Brexit, and the decision to end freedom of movement for EU nationals from December 2020. After Brexit, the UK banned EU citizens from using national ID cards to enter the country, insisting they carry a full passport (school trips have since been exempted). Around 300 million EU citizens have ID cards but not passports and therefore cannot travel to the UK using them, as they have before. The move was described by Bernard Donoghue, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), as “a disastrous act of economic self-harm”.

From April 2025, EU visitors to the UK have also needed to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), valid for two years and costing £16. Although Irish citizens are, due to the Common Travel Area (CTA) between the UK and Ireland, excluded from the need to apply for an ETA, concerns have have been expressed over the potential for negative impacts on tourism in Northern Ireland.

The future of Visit Kent

Nick de Bois, the chair of Visit Britain (who was recently told his term of office will end on 31 October), said: “Government and in particular the Treasury just doesn’t get tourism.” He told The Independent: “It doesn’t see (tourism’s) power to drive economic growth across the regions, to encourage investment, to build positive perceptions of Britain overseas, to get people into work and train them up to have fulfilling careers.”

The demise of Visit Kent is a blow to the local economy. However, Cllr King suggested KCC will establish a new body to take on Visit Kent’s functions. He said: “We still see as one of our core activities investing in the visitor economy … It won’t be Visit Kent, but there will be a body that helps promote the visitor economy in Kent. It will be a combined body promoting all tourist attractions in the county”.

No details of this initiative are currently available.