Kent’s tourist hotspots have had mixed fortunes in the number of visitors they attracted in the last year.

According to figures released today by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), Leeds Castle has seen a healthy eight per cent increase in numbers.

Canterbury Cathedral remains our number one spot for a day trip – with almost a million pilgrims last year (981,360). That ranks it as 23rd most popular attraction in the UK – but it is down six per cent on the previous year.

The figure bucks the national trend, which shows an increase in the number of people visiting the country’s major museums, galleries, heritage sites and other attractions in 2008, compared with the previous year.

Leeds Castle is our second favourite spot for a visit, with 578,072 heritage lovers walking through its doors – a rise of eight per cent. It comes in as the 35th most popular tourist site in the UK.

Dover Castle marks strong merit in the league, with 293,676 people flocking to the coast to marvel at the 12th Century fortification. Numbers are down by two per cent on 2007.

Coming in fourth place for Kent was Churchill’s home, Chartwell, which boasted 173,764 visitors – an increase of four per cent on the year before.

And finally for Kent, writer Vita Sackville-West’s glorious garden at Sissinghurst Castle, near Cranbrook attracted more than 160,000 visitors last year (164,120) – a rise of four per cent.

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Canterbury Cathedral’s head of visitor services, Therese Heslop said outside factors would have played a part in the decrease: "We had the Lambeth Conference throughout July and August, which meant we had to close the Cathedral and its precints to the public for a considerable amount of time, during our busiest period of the year.

"Added to that, the last six months of 2008 showed a very marked drop in visitor and tourist numbers across the board."

However, despite the predictions of the economic downturn continuing through the rest of 2009, the picture does look brighter.

~Listen: Hear ALVA director Robin Broke explain why life is for living - despite the recession>>>

"We have recorded very encouraging figures so far this year and we had a very busy half-term holiday last week," said Mrs Heslop.

She added: "Our forward bookings for March and April look very strong, but it's very hard to predict exactly how many people will come through our doors beyond that into the summer months."

Last year's total number of visitors dropped to 981,360 from an estimated 1,040,000 in 2007.

Nationally, the top five attractions were all free to visit – with the British Museum, Tate Modern and the National Gallery grabbing the top spots.

Robin Broke, director of Alva, said: “In the current financial climate, a healthy tourism industry is more vital than ever.

“This year British holidaymakers have the opportunity to rediscover the treasures on their doorsteps, enjoy terrific value, benefit from a strong exhibitions programme and at the same time support the economy.~”

Attraction facts

• More than half the UK attractions reported an increase in revenue from sales and hospitality

• 15 per cent said they had had fewer international visitors in 2008

• But 28 per cent expected more international visitors this year

• A healthy 44 per cent predicted the downturn would not affect visitor numbers in 2009.