April’s Tourism Matters: Unlock Thanet’s Secrets: Visitor Data, Growth Workshops, and Essential Business Tools

We hope you are having a successful Easter holiday period.

This April, discover key tools for business growth, including Visitor Survey workshops leveraging Thanet data, and explore the refreshed Visit Thanet Business website. Join us in celebrating community achievements like the Wilder Kent Award and Turner Contemporary’s 15th anniversary

Unlock Thanet’s Visitor Secrets – Workshops for Business Growth
In 2025 we conducted visitor research to provide insights into the people visiting Thanet.

Now we can use this data to drive success! This month, we are running workshops, one each in Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, specifically designed to show you how to translate this information into business success and improve the impact of your marketing.

These engaging and creative workshops, led by Bryony Bishop from BeeBee Communications will focus on town-specific opportunities and equip you with practical strategies to gain a competitive edge and drive your business forward.

Places are limited to 20 at each workshop, details as follows:

• Tuesday 21 April: 2pm to 4.30pm at Droit House, Margate
• Tuesday 28 April: 10.30am to 1pm at Pierremont Hall, Broadstairs
• Wednesday 29 April: 10.30am to 1pm at San Clu Hotel, Ramsgate

Contact tourism@thanet.gov.uk to reserve your place.

Visitor Information Services Opening Hours 
The Thanet Visitor Information Centre at Droit House, Margate, is open daily until Sunday 19 April, 10am to 5pm. For the rest of April and May the centre will be open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.

Broadstairs Information Kiosk on the promenade is open daily (weather permitting), 10am to 4pm.

Ramsgate Visitor Information at The Custom House, Harbour Parade, is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm until the end of September.

Relaunching the Visit Thanet Business Website
We are pleased to announce that our Visit Thanet Business website www.visitthanetbusiness.co.uk has undergone a major refresh.

The update has been made possible through the UK Prosperity Funded Project ‘Stronger Together’. To help achieve the project’s goals the site needed to work more effectively for local businesses and include information around accessibility and inclusion.

Many elements of the original site are still available including business support, research, organisation contacts, destination support, meeting room bookings and free image library.

Some elements of the site are still being refined, so if when you look at it you notice anything that could be improved upon or there is something you would like to see added, please let us know at tourism@thanet.gov.uk

Visitor Ambassador Accessibility Course
We are putting the finishing touches to our new online Accessibility Ambassador course. This training is designed to give you and your team practical skills to champion inclusivity within your business.

Keep an eye on your inbox – we will send out the official launch details and registration link soon.

‘Accessibility -It’s Good Business’ Webinar 
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent webinar, ‘Accessibility – It’s Good Business’. with Tourism for All. It was fantastic to see such a strong commitment to making Thanet a welcoming and inclusive destination for all visitors.

If you missed the webinar, want to watch it again or share with colleagues, you’ll find the recording on the new Visit Thanet Business website.

How to watch: The webinar recording is on the Accessibility training page, under ‘Free Training Options’. View the webinar here

Margate skatepark: public drop-in event
In March, Thanet District Council announced that Betongpark Ltd had been appointed to lead the £1.1 million redevelopment of Margate skatepark. There’s more information in the Newsroom

A series of public engagement events will take place in April to showcase the initial concept designs and gather vital feedback before the plans are submitted for planning permission. Further information will be shared via the council’s website and social media in the coming weeks.

High Street Rental Auctions
The government has introduced High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs). This is to empower local authorities to decrease the number of empty high street properties and improve local economies. Thanet District Council intends to use this power to support the regeneration of the town centres.

Thanet District Council has now designated high street areas within the main town centres. These have been selected based on current vacancy rates, regeneration priorities, and the potential to support thriving local centres.

There’s more information on the scheme, along with FAQs and an interactive map of the designated areas, on the council website

Don’t Miss Broadstairs Launched
Following the success of the Don’t Miss Margate and Don’t Miss Ramsgate newsletters, Don’t Miss Broadstairs launched on Monday 30 March.

These FREE weekly ‘what’s on’ and community life newsletters connect residents and visitors with independent businesses, cultural venues, events and grassroots initiatives.

Across the existing Thanet editions (Margate and Ramsgate), Don’t Miss reaches over 4,000 free and paying subscribers weekly, with consistently high open rates and strong engagement. The model combines free community access with ethical sponsorship and business subscriptions, creating a commercially sustainable framework that supports independent local economies.

Local businesses, venues and community organisers who wish to submit events and opportunities can email broadstairs@dontmissmediagroup.com

Federation of Small Businesses Events 

• Hospitality Sector Networking – Tuesday 21 April, 10am to 11.15am. For further information and to book click here
• Small Steps, Big Impact: Sustainable changes for Small Businesses – Wednesday 22 April, 10.30am to 11.30am. For further information and to book click here
• Business Owner Burnout: Staying Well whilst running your Business – Tuesday 19 May, 10am to 11am. For further information and to book click here
• Business Bootcamp: Survive to Thrive – Thursday 18 June, 9am to 3pm
  Practical tools for resilient, sustainable growth – paid-for event taking place at The Inn on the Lake, Gravesend. For further information and tickets click here

Wilder Kent Award Recognition
Congratulations to The Sunken Garden Society, awarded a Wilder Kent Silver Award by the Kent Wildlife Trust in the Community Groups category. The award recognises the work being done at Westbrook’s Sunken Gardens to maintain the garden and create habitats for wildlife.

Also awarded in this category GRASS Cliftonville CIC (silver) and Dane Valley Woods and Windmill Community Gardens in Margate, with gold awards for both. East Kent College Broadstairs Campus received gold in the ‘Schools, Nurseries, Colleges, and Universities’ category.

Happy 15th Anniversary to Turner Contemporary
It’s hard to believe that this month, Turner Contemporary marks 15 years since its opening. During this time it has welcomed nearly 5 million visitors, contributed over £100 million to the local economy, and presented work by over 350 artists from across the world.

To mark the anniversary, David Hockney’s Sunley Window focuses on the nature of light and the many ways its effects can be represented pictorially. The window depicts a sunrise in Normandy—adapted from Hockney’s 27th April 2020, No.1.