Open-top bus to give guided tour of Medway
Rochester Cathedral is on
the 'must-see' list for visitors
by Alan McGuinness
The booming tones of Brian Blessed will give visitors to the
Towns the lowdown on our attractions as part of an open top bus
tour.
As a result of Medway’s best ever year for tourism, which saw
470,000 visitors, the council has decided to trial a bus which will
link eight destinations.
These are: Medway Visitor Information Centre, Rochester railway
station, Chatham bus station, Fort Amherst, The Royal Engineers
Museum, Dickens World/Dockside Outlet Centre, The Historic Dockyard
and Chatham railway station.
Fort Amherst is a popular
attraction
Cllr Howard Doe (Con), who is responsible for tourism in the
Towns, said the council had “done its homework” on the idea.
“We’re likely to be on to a winner,” he said.
“It’s linking up all the tourist attractions we have and getting
people to see that we have a marvellous offering.”
The open-top bus tour
route
The full details of the pilot scheme were due to be announced at
a council meeting, including how much it will cost.
Tourism is worth £292 million to the Towns’ economy a year, and
more than 6,000 people are employed in tourism related
businesses.
Finance chief Cllr Alan Jarrett (Con) said he thought it was a
“fabulous concept, anything we can do to promote Medway is going to
be a good thing”.
Dickens World attracts
lots of visitors
The tours, which will depart hourly from 10am up until 5pm, will
start and finish at the visitor information centre. They will begin
in June.
An adult ticket will cost £5.50, concessions £4.50 and children
£3. A family ticket is priced at £13.
These will be valid all day, meaning visitors will be able to
hop on and off and explore attractions at their leisure. Tourists
will be able to join the tour at any of the eight stops.
The council is hoping to promote the bus tour at train stations
and the attractions themselves.
21/02/13
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