Visit Kent is projecting a £300 million boost to the county’s tourist industry in the wake of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The body is predicting that the region’s £3.2 billion tourism industry – already helped by the staging of last years’ Open Championship at Royal St Georges Golf Club – will be “bolstered” by an additional £324 million in the four years following the Games.

“To host two major sporting events such as the Open Championship and the Olympic Games in two successive years hasn’t been without its challenges,” said Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Visit Kent’s chief executive.

“There is a lot of preparation, resources, coordination and effort that goes into staging international events like these.

“But we knew that if we worked hard we could establish a legacy that would provide support to local tourism businesses – including the sector’s 3,000 small and medium-sized organisations – for many years to come.”

The body expects 90,000 visitors in Dover and 150,000 arrivals by train through the Channel Tunnel for London 2012. These figures will supplement the 56.6 million visitors Kent gets on an annual basis.

Visit Kent is anticipating that many of the 240,000 people expected to travel through Kent to the Games will return to explore the county, commonly known as “the garden of England”, in the following years.

“For the past five years, we have helped Kent’s tourism businesses get ready to deliver both a memorable Open Championship and a great 2012 Olympics experience, in order to capitalise on the county’s legacy,” Matthews-Marsh added.

“We have focused on building awareness of the fantastic golf courses, facilities and wealth of attractions available in our county, all of which will help inject an estimated £324 million into our tourism economy.”