White Cliffs Country Supporting Dover District's Tourism and Visitor Economy

White Cliffs Country is supporting the tourism industry in Dover District to Bounce Back to Business in 2021 with a series of fully-funded online training courses - to help the district to be ready to respond, re-boot, re-build and recover after lockdown. 

Available to the hospitality sector and leisure businesses, the courses provided by Dover District Council are designed to boost sales, develop media skills, increase marketing success and deliver excellence in customer service.  

Working in partnership with Keep Your Fork, Tourism South East and the England’s Coast Project, the new industry-relevant training programmes will be tailored to local businesses in Dover District and delivered between the end of January and the end of March 2021. 

Following four vital work streams, available training includes: 

• The Brand Booster Programme (Trainer Led) - delivered by Deal-based marketing, PR and training specialist Faye Smith (Keep Your Fork) (focusing on the essentials of marketing, social media, PR and attracting media attention to a business) 

• Welcome to Excellence Programme (Trainer Led) - delivered by industry experts Tourism South East (focusing upon delivering excellent customer service to visitors, as well as recognising that everyone is a visitor) 

• Welcome to Excellence Programme (Self Led Course) - delivered by industry experts Tourism South East (focusing on customer service) 

• England’s Coast Ambassador, created by the England’s Coast Project (National Coastal Tourism Academy), which features modules for every region of England’s coastline and upon completion of which, applicants receive England’s Coast Ambassador certification. 

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis (with one place offered per business, per course initially). For all relevant course dates, timings and booking advice, please visit the Industry Hub on White Cliffs Country website. Please book quickly to avoid disappointment. 

Cllr MJ Holloway, Dover District Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, said: “This exciting initiative forms part of DDC’s collaborative effort to help the tourism industry in White Cliffs Country to respond, re-boot and re-build from the effects of the pandemic. These are challenging times for everyone, as we go back into national lockdown, but we are looking forward to a brighter future. This initiative further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the local visitor economy, which is recognised as one of the district’s most important assets. 

“The new training programme augments a growing number of developments that will stimulate growth in our district’s visitor economy and supports the aims of our new Local Plan, “A Bold Vision for 2040”, which we release for public consultation in January, and which will attract further investment in our tourism sector.” 

For more information on White Cliffs Country and the district’s Tourism & Visitor Economy, please visit Welcome (whitecliffscountry.org.uk) (consumer) or Industry Hub (whitecliffscountry.org.uk) (business), or see Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

For further media information on Dover District Council and images, please contact Communications Manager, Kevin Charles, on kevin.charles@dover.gov.uk.  

For further media information on White Cliffs Country and images, please contact Visitor Marketing & Communications Officer, Luisse Whiting, on luisse.whiting@dover.gov.uk.