Canterbury is the latest world famous city to join Britain's Heritage Cities.
Its decision adds yet another classic, ‘heavenly' destination to an exclusive line-up which already proudly boasts as its members Bath, Chester, Durham, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, and York.
Britain's Heritage Cities work closely to promote their appeal more effectively to an overseas market, through the shared website http://www.heritageities.com/. Working in close partnership with VisitBritain, their main target is the English-speaking long-haul markets - especially the United States of America.
Canterbury is, of course, world-renowned for its Cathedral. But other buildings throughout the city also find room to shine, illuminating their own integral part in Canterbury's 2,000 years of history. Ancient ruins such as St Augustine's Abbey reach out across the ages, and thoroughfares, streets and houses have their own place in the city's story. The Abbey, along with the Cathedral and St Martin's Church, form part of Canterbury's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Like all of the cities in the Britain's Heritage Cities group, Canterbury also holds all of the attraction of a leading, 21st century holiday destination - with a full range of luxury hotels, fine restaurants, 'aspirational' shopping, lively nightclubs and welcoming pubs.
Elsewhere, the Marlowe Theatre attracts some of the very best productions in the country; while the meandering River Stour offers visitors the chance to enjoy a boat trip, and view the city from a completely different angle. And Rupert Bear Museum traces the origins of the famous bear and his friends from their earliest days appearing in the Daily Express newspaper to his more modern television incarnation on TV. Rupert's creator Mary Tourtel was born, and died in Canterbury - a city that she loved.
One of the world's biggest and most exciting sporting events, meanwhile, The Tour de France, is coming to Canterbury in 2007. The UK has won the opportunity to stage the first leg of the Tour, and on Sunday, July 8th the cyclists will make their way from London, through the Kent countryside to the finishing line in Canterbury.
Neil McCollum, Tourism Manager for Canterbury says: "We are very pleased to be given this opportunity to join British Heritage Cities, which is without doubt the premier tourism marketing consortium at work in the United States. Canterbury already has strong recognition across the US, and working alongside similar, like-minded historic cities, as well as Visit Britain, will allow us to strengthen our market share and capitalise on any new opportunities that arise."
Britain's Heritage Cities are also key partners in VisitBritain's current Luxury campaign, targeting the luxury traveller in the Americas through the promotion of upmarket, relaxing, health, self and leisure breaks. One of VisitBritain's largest consumer campaigns in the US, it is expected to feature a total spend of around £500,000 in 2006/07 alone, and the quality tourism product on offer in Britain's Heritage Cities is seen as the perfect match for this highly focused and successful campaign.
For full details of Britain's Heritage Cities, visit www.heritagecities.com/canterbury.
For more information, please contact:
Suzanne Lockhart Tel: +44 (0)1865-252406 E-mail: slockhart@oxford.gov.uk