Leisure and Tourism Performance

Contributing more than £3.2bn to the Kent economy, the tourism and leisure industry continues to be one of the county's major employers supporting 63,000 jobs – equivalent to 1 in every 14 people employed. Kent welcomes 57m visitors each year.

Attractions and venues

Turner Contemporary, Margate continues to draw in the crowds with 700,000 people having visited in its first year. It has received a Catalyst endowment grant of up to £1m from Arts Council, Heritage Lottery Fund and Department for Culture, Media and Sport to support sustainability and attract investment in new artistic work.

Phase 1 of the Dreamland project has received full funding for restoration of the scenic railway, the historic rides collection and 'Lord' George Sanger's menagerie cages. The park will open in 2013.

Ramsgate Tunnels Heritage Group is looking to develop the disused rail tunnels and air raid shelters under Ramsgate into an all-weather, year-round attraction. A successful Big Lottery Fund bid is supporting progress with feasibility studies.

New shops, homes and restaurants in central Dover have passed the final planning stage. In phase 1 a 108-bedroom Travelodge, telecommunications mast and 10m LED screen at Woolcomber Street/St James's Street, has achieved planning permission with completion in 2013. Phase 2 includes a variety of public spaces, a flint 'town wall', renewed retail and restaurant space and 450 parking spaces. The aim is to revive interest in Dover as a hub for shopping, eating and relaxing.

The National Trust is appealing for £1.2m to buy a mile of land on the White Cliffs of Dover. It is the missing link of local coastline owned by the National Trust and will safeguard it for the future. The Trust also launched a two year, £27m restoration of Knole House in Sevenoaks in 2012.

Battle of Britain Memorial Trust has planning permission for The Wing to be built at the National Memorial to the Few, Capel-le-Ferne. Designed by Folkestone's Godden Allen Lawn the building is in the shape of a Spitfire wing and will be a paid-for visitor experience, with special effects/video walls and an education centre.

Maidstone Museum's £3m restoration and East Wing development by Hugo Broughton Architects, opened to the public in spring 2012 as well as the new Kent History and Library Centre. Maidstone's Mote Park's £2.5m restoration and the Maidstone High Street Public Realm Project were also completed.

The Beaney Art Museum and Library, Canterbury, re-opened in September 2012 after extensive restoration and includes exhibition galleries, community/educational space, visitor information and interactive events.

The new £26m Marlowe Theatre opened in October 2011 and sold 300,000 tickets in its first nine months. Designed by Keith Williams Architects, the theatre received The Cultural Landscape Award and the RIBA Downland Award for architectural excellence.

Cyclopark, Gravesend opened in May 2012. This multi-sport centre brings first class running, cycling and extreme sports to Kent as well as regional and national events. Also in the Thames Gateway, Milton Creek Country Park has opened near Sittingbourne town centre.

Glow is a 5,200sqm (55,972sqft) event venue in Bluewater. The £60m space, owned by Lend Lease, opened in November 2011 and has two main halls and a gallery to host exhibitions and top musical acts and includes a plaza with 12 restaurants, cafes and bars.

Accommodation

Prince's Golf Club, on the Kent coast near Deal and Sandwich, has opened new Lodge accommodation. The opening marked the 80th anniversary of the first shot in the 1932 Open Championship hosted at Sandwich.

A new Premier Inn opened at Minster, near Ramsgate while a boutique hotel at Albion House, overlooking the Royal Harbour, is also planned. The Sands Hotel has planning permission for boutique accommodation on Margate seafront. In 2012, GSE completed phase 1 of the regeneration of the Hythe Imperial Hotel, with a £1m investment in the exterior of the building. Completion of the new homes on Imperial Green will allow a further £3m investment in the new south elevation of the hotel.

Medway has several new hotel sites including a 120-bedroom hotel on Gillingham Waterfront, a 150-bedroom hotel on Rochester Riverside as well as plans for a 200-bedroom hotel on Chatham Waterfront close to a new events/conferencing complex. Work has re-commenced at The Coniston Hotel, Sittingbourne, with a view of opening in late 2012.

Shepherd Neame acquired The Bell Hotel, Sandwich and The Fayreness Hotel, Broadstairs in late 2011 and is investing in accommodation at other properties. The Joiners Arms, West Malling, now has French boutique style bedrooms following a £140,000 refurbishment, and the Dog and Bear Hotel, Lenham, has refurbished its 24 bedrooms while maintaining its 17th Century period charm.

Transport

A masterplan by Dover Harbour Board to increase capacity with four additional Ro-Ro ferry berths in the Western Docks is proposed. The investment will see a new marina created for up to 370 berths. £11.4m has also been invested by extending Pier A at the Eastern Docks to enable longer vessels to moor in berth. This will provide improved mooring for DFDS vessels and an alternative berth for P&O Spirit class ships. Works will also improve marine safety and help avoid disruption to schedules.

P&O Ferries has added a second new ship, the Spirit of France, to its fleet. The assets of liquidated operator SeaFrance were awarded to Eurotunnel and three ships will be back in operation shortly. A new Dover-Calais route operated by LD Lines and DFDS started in February 2012.