New airport website aims to tempt travellers

A new tourism website was launched today (18 June) to tempt Gatwick Airport’s 30 million passengers to ditch the bright lights of London for the attractions of the South East.

Released in time for the Olympics, Aroundgatwick.com highlights the best that Surrey and the rest of the region has to offer to entice tourists.

The website, which is a joint venture between Gatwick Airport, Surrey County Council and other organisations in the South East, shows off the region’s unique attractions, from castles and classic English villages to award-winning vineyards and world famous museums.

Helyn Clack, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services and the 2012 Games, said: “Our aim is to encourage the millions of people who travel through Gatwick Airport to visit Surrey instead of taking the express train straight to London.

“This summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring hundreds of thousands of tourists to the UK and this new website should lead to more of them visiting Surrey and the rest of the South East.”

Click here for more information.

Ends

Media requiring more information can contact Surrey County Council media officer Nicole Herlihy on 020 8541 8039 or email nicole.herlihy@surreycc.gov.uk

Visit gosurrey.info for more information about Surrey’s involvement in the 2012 Games.

Notes to editors

Top attractions in Surrey include:

* Brooklands Museum: a collection of cars, motorcycles, bicycles and aircraft including a Concorde and WII Wellington Bomber on the site of the world’s first purpose built motor racing circuit.

* Denbies Wine Estate: an award winning working winery recently featured on BBC’s The Apprentice.

* RHS Garden Wisley: world famous horticultural centre with 240 acres of gardens.

* Shere: a beautiful village full of timbered buildings used for films like The Holiday and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

* Abinger Hammer: a classic English village with medieval buildings.

* Wotton House: a 17th century manor house that has 13 acres of listed gardens.

* Dorking: a thriving English market town with a vibrant community.

* Box Hill: an outstanding area of woodland and chalk downland which will play host to the most gruelling stretch of the Olympic cycling road race this summer.

* Leith Hill: the highest spot in Southern England with views as far as the sea to the south and London to the north.