Dover Castle is the “jewel in the crown” of Kent’s tourist economy and represents the “start of a historical and cultural renaissance along the county’s coast”.
The verdict came from Visit Kent’s chief executive Sandra Matthews-Marsh, who was at the castle’s Great Tower to announce the success of its £2.45 million investment.
Almost 117,000 visitors have passed through its refurbished halls, which have been transformed with rich and colourful furnishings and holograms to recreate Henry II’s court in 1186.
In August, some 62,680 people flocked to see the attraction, an increase of 49 per cent on the same month last year.
Steve Lang, head of visitor operations at Dover Castle, said the figures proved the money had been well spent.
“We’ve already seen that it’s started to increase the average duration of the visitors here, which is really good news for the whole of Dover and Kent, making sure that when the visitors did stay longer they would actually be staying in Dover overnight.
“We would then convert this from a one-day visit to a two-day visit, which would benefit B&Bs, restaurants and the town as a whole.”
Ms Marsh-Matthews said: “I think we are very much standing at probably one of the top two or three most significant buildings in the UK in terms of our heritage.
The tourism industry is worth £2.5 billion to Kent, making up about nine per cent of the county’s GDP. Visitor numbers have increased by 20 per cent in the past year, due to more
people holidaying at home.
