JUST as Kent was anticipating a tourism boost, a double whammy of terrorism and airline collapse knocks us back.

Tourist chiefs had been salivating at the thought of hundreds of thousands of people coming to the UK for the Olympic Games in 2012. Where would they stay? Well, Kent of course.

The same was being said of the 400th anniversary of the first settlement in Virginia in 2007.

There were visions of EUjet, the low-cost airline operating out of Manston, flying visitors in from across Europe.

Links with Virginia would bring people into PlaneStation hubs for onward transfer to Kent International.

But just as a week is a long time in politics, the same could be said of business. Although rumours of financial difficulties have never been far away from EUjet and its parent PlaneStation, the end came quickly.

So quickly in fact that EUjet, unforgiveably, did not have a contingency plan to bring passengers home.

To leave them stranded at airports across Europe was a poor return on the loyalty shown by Kent.

The demise of EUjet, while always accepted as a possibility from the day it started operations last September, is sad for Kent as well as the 500 airline and airport workers who are likely to lose their jobs.

Kent and Manston needed to prove that it could support scheduled services. The lack of decent aviation links has always hampered the county’s aspirations to premier status.

Heathrow and Gatwick have proved powerful magnets to inward investment, with Blue Chip companies preferring to set up close to those airports rather than locate in Kent.

The launch of EUjet and investment at Manston transformed perceptions. Kent County Council recognised this and pumped £100,000 into the airline.

KCC has lost its gamble. It will be criticised for squandering cash in a risky private sector venture. But residents who took advantage of cheap flights on their doorstep relished the opportunity.

Terrorism has also resurfaced as a deterrent to tourism. Few visitors to Kent do not also pay a visit to the capital. Proximity to London is one of the county’s many attractions.

Tourism marketing chiefs must ram home the line that Kent is still a great, safe place that gives a warm welcome to visitors.