The UK government’s Tourism & Heritage Minister, John Penrose, visited At-Bristol, the popular science attraction on Bristol’s Harbourside to demonstrate his support for the UK’s tourism industry. The visit marked the first day of British Tourism Week 2011 which ends on 20 March 2011.

The Tourism & Heritage Minister was met by Dr Goery Delacote, Chief Executive of At-Bristol. The visit coincided with the opening of At-Bristol’s latest £1.5 million exhibition, All About Us. The exhibition all about the human body and the brain launched to the public last Friday. John Penrose was among one of the first visitors to see the exhibition for the very first time.

John Penrose, Tourism & Heritage Minister and MP for Weston-super-Mare, said “I was delighted to be invited to come and see At-Bristol’s amazing new exhibition. British Tourism Week is all about showing people the fantastic tourist attractions on their doorstep and encouraging them to get out and see them. At-Bristol is a great place to visit and I’d like to encourage everyone to get out and see the science centre and all the other tourism gems, like my own constituency of Weston-super-Mare, over the next week.”

British Tourism Week aims to raise local, regional, national and international awareness of the size, value and importance of Britain’s £115 billion visitor economy.

John Penrose travelled to At-Bristol directly after launching the week long national event on The Grand Pier in his home constituency of Weston-super-Mare. Having spent the morning in the seaside town, the Minister then showed his appreciation of urban tourism attractions, with a visit to the nearby city of Bristol.

Reflecting on the Tourism Minister’s visit, Goery Delacote, Chief Executive of At-Bristol said: “It was a pleasure to welcome John Penrose MP to At-Bristol as part of British Tourism Week. At-Bristol has a role as both a leading visitor attraction in the West Country and a venue where science is brought to life. Our visitors not only have a fantastic day out but they walk away having learnt something new about themselves and the world around us too. John Penrose understood that tourism and science education can go hand-in-hand and recognised that this relationship brings many sorts of intelligent and relevant touristic opportunities to the country”.

“The Tourism Minister showed his support for the work we do by getting hands-on in the science centre’s new Live Lab with a DNA experiment and also had a tour of our new All About Us exhibition, where among other things he learnt about the origins of his surname. It was a great honour and we thank John Penrose very much for his interest in At-Bristol.”

At-Bristol is a leading science centre and major tourist attraction in the UK. As an educational charity At-Bristol hosts over 188,000 visitors a year, including 40,000 educational visits. Since opening its doors in June 2000, At-Bristol has welcomed over four million people and continues to be a popular draw for local people and visitors to the city.

Feisal Khalif, Marketing Manager for Destination Bristol, the city’s destination management and tourism organisation, said: “Located on the historic Harbourside, whose transformation over recent years has been instrumental in Bristol becoming one of England’s leading visitor destinations, At-Bristol is a wonderful showcase for the quality and value of the city’s tourism offer.”

For more information on British Tourism Week, go to www.britishtourismweek.com