New way for Surrey’s tourism industry to fly the flag for the county

17th August 2018

A new era has dawned for Visit Surrey, the county’s official tourist board, which has been reinvigorated with a fresh approach to putting Surrey’s tourist hotspots on the map.  
 

Photo caption:  Some of the founding members of the Visit Surrey tourist board met to receive their badges at the stunning Beaverbrook near Leatherhead. Pictured left to right is Andrew Spearman and Alec Jeeves from Beaverbrook, Simon Durrant of Epsom Racecourse, Christine Howard, chairman of Visit Surrey, Louise Musgrove and Karina Watson-Hill from The Lightbox, Paul Stewart from Brooklands Museum, and Kelly Walsh and Jeannette Simpson from Denbies Vineyard. 

The Visit Surrey website is already a top-ranking showcase for the very best places to visit and stay and receives over one million visits a year.  Now, the not-for-profit organisation is inviting venues to become members to form a united force for the good of the county’s tourism industry and to increase footfall to individual locations. It has also unveiled a new badge to enable visitor locations to proclaim that they are officially a `proud member of Visit Surrey’. 

“Visit Surrey is a fantastic vehicle for putting the county’s tourism locations on the map, but by becoming a member, each location will now officially be part of Surrey’s tourism scene, and by displaying the badge, they will be letting visitors know they have the Visit Surrey stamp of approval,” said Christine Howard, chairman of Visit Surrey.  “Leisure time is so precious these days that people want reassurance about where they will be spending their day out or holiday.  Tourism is vital to the economy of Surrey and it is the fifth largest employment sector. To ensure it continues to go from strength to strength, we need to work together to make our tourist locations even more visible to visitors.” 

One of the founding members is the award-winning luxury hotel, Beaverbrook, near Leatherhead.

“We are very proud to be founding members at such an early stage in our hotel’s story,” said Andrew Spearman, Beaverbrook Hotel Director. “Beaverbrook has only been open a year as a hotel and the Visit Surrey website plays an important role in bringing visitors to our door. By working and collaborating together as a tourist board we can help to increase that footfall, not just for ourselves, but for the county as a whole. Surrey is close to London but you can quickly be among the rolling hills and beautiful countryside – it has the best of both worlds.” 

Surrey receives around 26 million day visitors a year and has an international reputation for horse racing, award-winning theatres, art galleries, restaurants and hotels, as well as having over a quarter of the county designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is similar to a National Park. It is home to 2,143 miles of bridleways and footpaths, one of the most extensive in Great Britain, with the North Downs Way National Trail as the jewel in the crown.  

Since the new Visit Surrey website was launched two years ago, it has become the one-stop shop for the county, promoting tourism businesses, destinations, events and activities. It allows visitors and residents alike to access information easily to support their leisure time in Surrey.

“By bringing the tourist businesses and destinations on board as members, we will be able to work together to highlight the wonderful venues Surrey residents have on their doorstep and entice more visitors from other parts of the UK and overseas to come to our county,” added Ms Howard. “Together we will show that Surrey is an exceptional place to visit, live and work.”

Facts about Visit Surrey  

• Visit Surrey is a county-wide, not for profit, Community Interest Company that acts as the central point for tourism communications, activity and development within Surrey.
• The annual turnover in tourism for Surrey is £2bn and there are 35,000 full-time jobs in the industry.
• £853m per year is spent on day trips in the county and £515m on overnight trips.
• It works in collaboration with Visit England, Visit Britain and other relevant tourism sector bodies. 

For further details please contact:

Tracy Carroll 01737 823208 tracy@marketplace.uk.com