Kent wildlife park and conservation charity, Wildwood Trust, has been given the green seal of approval by Visit England, as part of the leading tourism organisation’s ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign.

With July 4th and the delights of summer right around the corner, staycations and local tourist attractions are predicted to experience a huge boom this year.

To help Brits plan ahead, Visit England has launched its new industry standard campaign, and Wildwood Trust has passed with flying colours. The park reopened on June 15th with overwhelming customer support for the safety measures it has put in place.

The tourism sector has been hugely affected by the covid-19 pandemic, with inbound tourism set to drop 63% this year.

The new industry standard will give a helping hand and build a ‘ring of confidence’ around British tourism organisations, signalling the safe places to go to while helping attractions like Wildwood Trust bounce back from the pandemic.

Wildwood Trust has been open to the public since June 15th and has received overwhelming visitor support for the safety measures it has put in place The team is delighted that their excellent measures and visitor care are now officially recognised and are hoping that this new accreditation will encourage even more visitors to visit.

Paul Whitfield, Director General at Wildwood Trust, said; ‘’We’ve had such supportive and appreciative feedback from our visitors who feel really well cared for and relaxed thanks to the safety measures we’ve put in place. The good-to-go sign gives us that official and formal acknowledgement that we have been approved at the highest possible level’.

For accreditation, businesses in the British tourism sector are required to confirm a range of safety measures taken to achieve a ‘good-to-go’ sign. Wildwood has put in place many of these, including limited entries to the park, one-way systems and multiple hand sanitising station.

Reconnecting with animals and nature

Wildwood is not only an animal park with native species it is also a leading conservation charity for British wildlife. The park is not just an attraction but also a place where species conservation, animal rescues and nature preservation, which is a big part of the organisation’s mission, is in action.

During lockdown funds for vital conservation projects including bringing dormice, wildcats and red squirrels back from the brink of extinction, have shrunk massively.

The park works to reconnect people with nature and wildlife, which is now more important than ever. Reopening the park not only gives people the joy of meeting native British species face to face, it’s also an outlet for months of indoor time where many people felt like they lost touch with nature.

‘’People are extremely happy to be back at Wildwood,” said Paul. “They really appreciate being outdoors and getting close to nature after so long inside or in their back gardens.‘’

And the animals also seem happy to have visitors back in the park again.

‘’The otters and bears have really been putting on a show for visitors and for the first time ever we have experienced our wolves howling while there were visitors in the park’’ said Paul.

Evening openings

Wildwood has launched a series of exciting adults-only evening events for the summer. With limited tickets available, wild evenings out have taken on a whole new and exclusive meaning. Limited tickets are available, which can be reserved online.

‘’These evenings have been such a positive experience for people who feel like daytimes in the park can be a bit too fast-paced. People are thrilled to experience the park in the evening and are also seeing animals that can be shyer in the daytime.’’ Paul concludes.

Wildwood Trust will be doing both daytime and evening opening slots throughout the summer and is delighted to be ‘good to go’.

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