Greg Clark, MP for Tunbridge Wells, received a warm welcome on Friday 5th April when he visited Bewl Water with Go To Places Chief Executive Deirdre Wells OBE. Bewl Water is the largest stretch of open water in the South East, an 800-acre site set in an area of outstanding natural beauty, in the heart of the High Weald
The visits were organised by Visit Kent and took place on Tourism Constituency Day, when Greg Clark showed his support for local tourism businesses in Kent as part of English Tourism Week, and ahead of the Kent Big Weekend.
Kent Big Weekend is part of English Tourism Week, which highlights tourism as one of the fastest growing sectors in the national economy. This year the event has broken all its previous records with over 130 attractions coming together to donate more than 36,000 tickets to local residents during the weekend event. Applications for tickets saw a 27% increase on 2018 with over 296,000 applications. The Kent Big Weekend website has had 1.4 million-page views during the campaign, which is a 15% increase on the previous year.
During his visit to Bewl Water, Greg Clarke was shown around the reservoir and The Boat House Bistro which sits perched on the water’s edge at Bewl Water, by Operations Director at the site Phil Daley who discussed future plans, including the Aqua Park which is set to open in May 2019.
Bewl Water is a regular supporter of Kent Big Weekend and has donated a complimentary restaurant voucher to the campaign, so that local Kent residents can experience the attraction for themselves.
Open all year, a visit to this stunning lake is fantastic family fun and great value. The facility offers a fantastic range of leisure and recreational activities, including fishing, cycling and boating, on and around the reservoir with an excellent visitor centre, conference venue, restaurant and café on the shoreline. Situated near the picturesque town of Lamberhurst and the beautiful Scotney Castle and within an hour’s drive of Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Tonbridge, Maidstone and Ashford, Bewl Water makes for a fantastic day out in Kent.
“It was a great pleasure meeting Deirdre and Phil at Bewl Water to discuss the fantastic work Visit Kent undertake to promote tourism throughout the county” said Greg Clark.
“Bewl provided an ideal location for our meeting, having seen significant investment in recent years, it has proven to be one of the most popular visitor attractions in West Kent.
“Tourism contributes a significant amount to the local economy, which is why I am so supportive of the Kent Big Weekend and English Tourism Week.”
Greg Clark was one of several Kent MPs visiting a variety of Kent attractions on Tourism Constituency Day that are participating in the Kent Big Weekend.