Part of the Green Tourism project was to work with communities and businesses to develop "Country Breaks". St Margaret's-at-Cliffe and St Margaret's Bay are the first in Natural East Kent to produce a Country Break. Click here to download the St Margaret's Bay Country Break leaflet.
The development and promotion of Country Breaks is part of Tourism South East's Rural Ways initiative. The Rural Ways website, www.ruralways.org, provides information on rural areas to the potential visitor. A good way of describing it is that it 'plugs the rural gaps' by giving a focus to rural areas, their attractions and facilities, local produce and activities.
Rural Ways features a section devoted to Country Breaks - www.ruralways.org.uk/countrybreaks. This section provides an opportunity for rural villages to literally 'put themselves on the map', with a guide to what makes their area special and ideas on what visitors can do and see, where they can stay and where they can eat.
Rural Ways provides a great vehicle for communities to develop and launch their own Country Breaks, by encouraging the development of stronger collaboration amongst local stakeholders. Devising such Breaks gives greater control over content, and how tourism is managed and promoted to local communities.
