Personality profile


opening of Cyclopark near Gravesend, have all contributed to the success of our visitor economy, as well our major regional shopping centres. “We are constantly striving to keep


ahead of trends to cater for the tastes of all ages.” Raised in Surrey, where her parents


Dudley and Sylvia still live, avid reader Sandra intended to become a librarian. “I owe a huge debt to my parents,”


she says. “They inspired me to work hard and instilled a strong work ethic in me from an early age. I had a Saturday job with Croydon library services – and worked as a volunteer at the Tourist Information Centre in Hastings. It was unpaid work at the time – but look at the doors it was to open for me later.” After graduating from


Loughborough University with a degree in Library Studies and Geography, Sandra faced a crossroads decision – tourism or librarianship? She chose to follow her heart to


Hastings – where her then-boyfriend was based – and her first job was as marketing assistant with Hastings Borough Council, where she worked for 13 years, rising to become the head of marketing. In 1993 she joined the South East


Tourist Board as head of marketing and became marketing director for Leeds Castle six years later. Few people can boast to have lived ‘in the loveliest castle in the world’ but with the job came a cottage on the estate.


During her time there, Sandra It was Sandra who purchased the


castle’s first hot air balloon, which became a key part of led to the popular annual hot air balloon festivals being launched, and another first was witnessing the castle host its first major political conference conference in decades – the Northern Ireland peace talks – which brought then-Prime minister Tony Blair and other key political figures from both sides of the Irish Sea to Maidstone in 2004. Later that year,


Sandra joined the embryonic Kent Tourism Alliance and saw a new challenge – getting a number of partners and investors on board to work together. Drawing on her past experience in Hastings, launching ‘1066 country’, again a public / private sector partnership, Sandra regularly put in a 60- 75 hour week to galvanise the investors and get things moving. She started to form what she now describes as her “fantastic team”. She said: “It was a matter of sheer will and determination and now I have an amazing team, headed by a wonderful chairman (Amanda Cottrell) and a fantastic board. When you have the right people in place, you can achieve amazing things. Our investors work together with our wider family of partners to make things happen.” Now, under the


Visit Kent supports more than 3,000 small and medium sized businesses which, as the name suggests, rely on the tourist trade for their survival. That includes everything from small B&Bs, tea rooms and gift shops to


regional food producers, theatres, galleries and a wealth of leisure attractions, covering castles and culture to fun and festivals.


helped organise the 21st anniversary celebrations of the classical concerts and also introduced popular music concerts, meeting guests such as Cliff Richard, Luciano Pavarotti, Tony Bennett and Elton John. Tony Bennett, especially, left a


lasting impression. “He absolutely loved Leeds Castle,” she recalls. “He is a very talented painter and painted a watercolour picture of the castle, which he presented to the castle as a gift when he left.”


banner of Visit Kent, Sandra’s team has helped galvanised the entire tourism industry in the county to work together – so much so, that Kent is now recognised as a best practice destination management organisation (DMO) and recently took


second place as Britain’s Best DMO in a vote amongst top tour operators – and she no longer needs to put in 75 hours a week. However, never one to let the grass


grow under her feet – even in the Garden of England – Sandra and her team are already ploughing ahead with more projects, particularly improvements to Kent’s coastal resorts and heritage. Sandra would like to see an increase in bijou boutique hotels and more high


quality accommodation to meet current customer expectations and she is currently working on new bids for European funding. She said: “Although the number of


day visitors rose by 8% in the past five years, overnight stays only went up by 2% so there is clearly work to be done to encourage people to stay in the county longer and explore more of all there is to see and do.”


The Kent Contemporary ‘hidden


treasures’ campaign on the London Underground, which used images of the county to appeal to would-be visitors, reaped a 68-1 return on investment over a three-year period. “Sometimes, people just need


reminding what is waiting for them to enjoy in their own backyard,” she says. Although Sandra turned down a job with the English Tourist Boardnational tourist board in favour of remaining in Kent, she still gets involved in much national – and international – activity as vice chairman of the Tourism Society and a director of Tourism South East. Such a high-powered adrenalin- fuelled career means Sandra working often-unsocial hours that take her away from home. But when she gets a minute to wind down with husband Mike in Faversham, Sandra enjoys relaxing and growing in her garden or walking their recently acquired black Labrador along the beach at Seasalter. And later this year she is due to become ‘granny Sandra’ when stepdaughter Laura gives birth. She is also hoping to revive the


‘Moves Fitness’ classes she ran twice a week in Bearsted until two years ago. “I hate exercise, but I love to dance.


However, if I had to attend a class, I might be tempted to miss it, so decided the only way to make sure I went there every week was to be the teacher!” she said. Now that’s what you call


commitment.


Mid Kent Living 5


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