THE Belgian resort of Ostend has called in Canterbury-based tourism marketing consultant Ted Kirkham Associates to help restore its popularity in the UK market.

Until the advent of low-cost air travel packages to Mediterranean sunspot destinations in the 1980s, Ostend - just 70 miles from Dover - was the favourite summer holiday playground for generations of British families.

Now, after multi-million pound investment to upgrade accommodation and amenities, the North Sea resort is to mount a major UK promotion campaign to raise its profile as an easy-to-reach, all-seasons destination appealing to visitors of all ages and interests.

Says Ted Kirkham, who is co-ordinating the Ostend Tourist Office campaign, its first in Britain for several years: "The cheap and cheerful holiday town so popular with our parents and grandparents has been transformed into a modern seaside city well able to provide for the more sophisticated leisure tastes and demands of the 21st century. The `new look Ostend' will pleasantly surprise people who may regard it as more a port than an attractive and lively holiday resort with an international clientele.

"Residents of Kent and south east England will be a special target of the campaign, which will include save-money `Discover Ostend' packages at hotels and attractions. To attract families with children, some hotels are featuring special deals during our main and half term holiday periods which differ from those in mainland Europe."