TO THE sound of a salsa beat, tourism chiefs have launched a new website designed to boost the number of visitors coming to Kent.

www.visitkent.co.uk has cost £200,000 to design and is the start of a marketing blitz to promote the county as a great place for holiday breaks.

It will enable visitors from the UK, Europe and worldwide to book accommodation online at any time, and spell out the attractions the county has to offer.

The website was launched at County Hall, Maidstone, by Amanda Cottrell, the High Sheriff of Kent and the new chairman of Kent Tourism Alliance, and Cllr Paul Carter, leader of Kent County Council,

A demonstration of the website should have been accompanied by Spring, from Vivaldiâ's Four Seasons but the soundtrack disappeared.

It was replaced at the last moment by a salsa CD that a member of staff happened to have in her car.

After the launch, presented by Geoff Clark of BBC South East Today, Cllr Carter said the new website was an up-to-the-minute virtual shop window that would allow businesses to prosper and attract more people to Kent.

"If we are to establish Kent as a premier tourism destination, we cannot be complacent," he said. "The introduction of a bookable Kent tourism website will ensure that we succeed in a competitive marketplace."

Tourism employs 50,000 people and earns nearly £2 billion for the county every year. Experts believe the new website will add at least 10 per cent to that sum over the next three years.