The UK’s tourist industry – suffering from the effects of foot and mouth disease, 11 September, the war in Iraq and the impact of SARS – is to receive a boost to its profile when nine members of the Royal family visit attractions across the country next month.
British Tourism Day, on 10 June, will see the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visiting Legoland in Windsor and the Britain and London Visitor Centre. The Queen will also visit the new Docklands Museum, whilst the Duke of Edinburgh will pay a call on the Design Museum and the Museum of London.
Further north, the Prince of Wales will visit Gladstone’s Land; the Real Mary King’s Close and the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre, all in Edinburgh and Linlithgow Palace, between Edinburgh and Stirling.
Drusilla’s Zoo Park and the National Trust Clergy House, both in Alfriston, Sussex will receive a visit from the Princess Royal, as will the Royal Navy Submarine museum at Gosport.
The Duke of York will be in the Lake District, looking in on the Drunken Duck inn in Ambleside; the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick and the Rheged Centre in Penrith.
Wales will be visited by the Earl of Wessex, who will be heading for Brecon to the Llangorse Rope and Riding Centre; Brynich Caravan Park; the Felin Fach Griffin and the Dan-Yr-Ogof National Show Caves.
The Countess of Wessex will travel to the south west for the day and visit the Minack Theatre, Porthcurno and the Nare Hotel, Roseland – both in Cornwall; Pennywell Farm near Ashburton, Devon and Simonsbath Saw Mill on Exmoor in Somerset. She will also be opening a coastal footpath at St Levan Well, Porthchapel Beach in Cornwall.
Elsewhere, the Duke of Gloucester will be in Leicestershire – visiting the National Space Centre, Leicester: the Staunton Stable Tea Rooms, Staunton Harold and the National Forestry Centre at Moira – and the Duke of Kent in North Yorkshire, exploring Fountains Abbey and Newby Hall, both in Ripon.
In the evening, the Queen will host a reception at Buckingham Palace for representatives of the tourism industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, whilst the Prince of Wales will hold a similar function in Scotland.
Tourism – with approximately 2.1m related jobs – is one of the largest industries in the UK, worth about £76bn last year and contributing 4.5 per cent of the national GDP. Details: www.royal.gov