Go To Places – the parent organisation behind Visit Kent and Visit Herts – has secured £1 million of Government funding to launch Gourmet Garden Trails – a series of new tourist trails showcasing England’s beautiful gardens and unique food and drink.
On 13 February, VisitEngland unveiled the latest bids to secure funding from the Discover England Fund (DEF), all of which aim to enhance England’s competitive tourism offer to international visitors.
Building on their successful DEF Year One pilot project (the Gardens & Gourmet visitor pass), Go To Places will work with several destination partners to create bookable itineraries that package accommodation, artisanal food and drink locations, courses, winery and brewery tours, and English gardens for an international audience.
The project will target visitors from Germany and The Netherlands and take them on a sensory journey around different parts of the country as they explore new tourist trails through both famous and little-known gardens and gourmet sites across rural England.
Locations and organisations currently involved in the project include Kent, Hertfordshire, Essex, Cheshire and The Peak District and Derbyshire. The project will also be supported by leading tourism and travel partners including Eurotunnel, P&O Ferries, The Camping and Caravanning Club, and Southeastern.
Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE, Chief Executive of Go To Places, said, “We are delighted to share this news today, and that we can celebrate the hard work of all of our partners in making this bid possible. Gourmet Garden Trails will showcase the best of rural and coastal destinations.
“Our pilot project in Year One gave us some invaluable learnings and showed the strong interest our target markets have in accessing high quality, authentic food, drink and garden experiences in the UK. We are excited to be creating a brand new bookable tourism product for these markets, and to further showcase the unique rural experiences that England’s countryside can offer.
“Congratulations to all the other successful bidders.”
VisitEngland Chief Executive Sally Balcombe said, “The Discover England Fund has already delivered exciting new tourism products and these winning bids add to our ambitious plans for tourism in England. Innovative projects such as these, with twin centre holidays and off-the-beaten-track food and garden trails, showcase aspects of England in exciting new ways, getting visitors exploring more of the country.”
The three-year £40 million Discover England Fund administered by VisitEngland was launched in 2016 to ensure that England stays competitive in the rapidly growing tourism industry, by offering world-class English tourism products to the right customers at the right time. The Fund is a central Government funded programme of activity, supported by match funding by partners in the public and private sectors.
In Years Two and Three, the Fund is supporting destination-led collaborative bids worth more than £1 million, and a series of pilots. It continues to fund existing Year One projects that demonstrated early success.
