TOURIST chiefs are setting up a training academy to help businesses do an even better job for visitors to the county.

The tourism industry, which will reveal better-than-expected figures for visitor numbers this year, employs tens of thousands of people across the county and is worth millions of pounds every year.

The new venture will be unveiled at the Kent Tourism Conference in Canterbury on November 24. The academy will offer online and other courses for tourist company bosses and their staff.

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, the new chief executive of the Kent Tourism Alliance and formerly chief executive at Leeds Castle, said the academy would “demystify” training.

She said: “Because our industry is quite fragmented, we suffer with people not always knowing where to go to get the information. The academy will be leading that demystification. We want to raise skill levels, raise retention so people don’t just do it as a summer job and move on afterwards.”

Training would raise the profile of tourism, showing that it was a great industry to work in, she added.

“There are lots of opportunities in Kent varying from a sous-chef at a five-star hotel, working on the ferries, picking up litter at Leeds Castle to opening the gates at Hever Castle. It’s a really wide dynamic industry.”

The academy will be based at Canterbury Christ Church University College, with financial support from Kent County Council and the European Interreg Fund.

Mrs Matthews-Marsh said Kent tourism had shown “shoots of recovery” this year following the setbacks of 9/11, Sars, BSE and Foot and Mouth Disease. More visitors were coming from Germany, France and the United States, she said, and domestic tourism was strong.

“The coin has turned over from the dark days of 9/11 and the other terrible things we’ve had over the last five years,” she added.