On Friday 16th March 2007, Nadine will be taking part in a whistle stop tour of key tourist attractions in her constituency. This week is the first British Tourism Week (12-18 March 2007) and MPs have been encouarged to ‘go back to the floor’ and visit local tourism businesses in their constituencies to show their support for Britain’s £74 billion visitor economy. Nadine has also added her support to Early Day Motion, 1089, British Tourism Week, expressing her support for UK tourism.
Nadine said, “I am looking forward to my tourism tour in Mid Bedfordshire this Friday, when I will be visiting some of the wonderful and interesting tourist attractions we have on our very own doorstep. Bedfordshire is a great place in which to work and live, and I am delighted to play my role in helping to promote British tourism week locally so that even more people will come to Bedfordshire and see what we have to offer. VisitBritain is to be congratulated on the work they are doing to promote the UK tourism industry and I hope that British Tourism Week is a great success.”
Nadine is photographed above signing the Visit Britain Pledge Card, expressing her support for the UK tourism industry.
Nadine Dorries MP Visit Of Tourist Attractions In Mid Bedfordshire On Friday 16th March 2007 For British Tourism Week:
10.00am – Woburn Safari Park - Britain's largest drive-through safari park. Nadine will meet with the Duke of Bedford who will show her the new Mammoth Play Ark. Nadine will also be coming face to face as she ventures in with the lemurs at the award winning attraction, Land of the Lemurs.
11.15am – Ampthill Park – Former hunting ground of King Henry VIII; monument marks the site of Ampthill Castle, where Katherine of Aragon was kept under house arrest during her divorce.
12.00pm – Houghton House - Shell of a 17th-century mansion, reputedly the inspiration for the 'House Beautiful' in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
1.00pm – Stondon Motor Museum & Garden Centre – The UK’s largest private collection of motor vehicles.
2.30pm – Marston Vale Community Forest Centre – Lively conservation centre, set in the spectacular Millennium Country Park (To include lunch also).
4.00pm – Elstow Abbey & Moot Hall – Elstow, is the birthplace of John Bunyan, who was baptised at the Abbey and worshipped there regularly. Moot Hall is a timber-framed market hall set on the village green, and a museum of life in the 17th century.
5.00pm – End Of Tour.
Under the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales, British Tourism Week highlights the contribution made by businesses from every part of the UK’s tourism industry, large and small, public and commercial, in maximising future opportunities such as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The text of Early Day Motion, 1089 is as follows:
BRITISH TOURISM WEEK
That this House notes that the first British Tourism Week, under the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales, will take place between 12th to 18th March; congratulates its organisers, VisitBritain, the Tourism Alliance UKinbound, Visit Scotland, Visit Wales, Visit London, the Tourism Society, the Wales Tourism Alliance, the Scottish Tourism Forum, ABTA and Reed Travel Exhibitions; acknowledges that the domestic tourism industry is worth more than £60 billion per annum to the economy and that the inbound tourism industry generates over £15 billion per annum in export earnings; notes that within those figures the amount of £3 billion is directly attributable to caravanners and The Caravan Clubs' one million members; further notes that caravanning is the most popular paid-for holiday choice in the UK, and as a market sector, is significantly increasing year on year; applauds the tourism industry for generating 2.1 million jobs at all skills levels across the whole country and being instrumental in regenerating and sustaining communities in every constituency; and urges all hon. and right hon. Members to associate themselves with British Tourism Week celebrations both locally and nationally.
Click Here To Visit The British Tourism Week Website
Click Here To See Which MPs Have Signed EDM 1089 British Tourism Week