Sharing Best Pracice

Kent Greeters Programme Case Study

Summary

Dover CliffsKent Greeters are local volunteer residents who want to share the area they love with visitors to the county. Kent has Greeters available throughout the county to provide a friendly welcome and a unique information service about the local area. If you want to discover the real Kent and learn about local culture then the Kent Greeters are the perfect people to ask.

What We Did

The Kent Greeters are part of the Celebrating Kent campaign being run by Visit Kent at Kent County Council working with businesses and residents to raise awareness of the importance of the tourism, leisure and hospitality industry to the local economy in the run-up to the London Games in 2012.

The Kent Greeters is led by Visit Kent, supported by Kent Campaign for the 2012 Games and Tourism South East.

The pilot scheme in Thanet was the first to be launched in Europe and was inspired by the success of the Big Apple Greeters who have become an essential feature of any visit to New York.

The Thanet Greeters started taking bookings for meetings for visitors from the UK and overseas in 2007 and this spring saw the start of the White Cliffs Greeters programme covering the Dover, Deal and Sandwich area.

The structure of the Kent Greeters means that volunteers are involved in all aspects of the organisation, including administration of the programme and matching greeters with visitors. Local greeter groups in Kent regularly meet for self organised information evenings and talks as well as on a more social basis. Volunteers are also actively engaged and networked with their counterparts in other areas of Kent as well as in Nord Pas de Calais. All greeters and visitors are required to complete a feedback form after each ‘greet’.

End results (Outcomes)

  • The Kent Greeter programme encourages local residents to actively participate in welcoming visitors and becoming involved in the tourism industry encouraging a sense of civic pride and enthusiasm for their local area.   
  • Kent Greeters currently has 40 volunteers across the county greeting visitors.
  • 201 people have received a ‘greet’ since the start of the programme. 
  • The Kent Greeters programme will continue beyond 2012 creating a legacy of an outstanding, friendly welcome in Kent. An annual Kent Greeters conference will be set up to encourage further networking.

Key Learning Points

  • To work in partnership with district/borough councils and tourism officers.
  • To utilise existing volunteer and local interest networks to recruit Greeters.
  • To actively encourage volunteers to become involved in all aspects of the organisation including administration and matching volunteers and greeters.
  • To work in partnership with regional and national tourism agencies to encourage the wider promotion of the scheme.
  • To work with local accommodation providers to encourage promotion of the scheme via their websites and during the enquiry and booking confirmation process. 
  • To encourage greeters to be ambassadors for a range of tourism projects and information.