Showcasing Britain’s natural beauty

A new exhibition of the UK's natural beauty at its best, featuring images of stunning landscapes and cinematic countryside goes on display in London this February.

12 February 2008

A new exhibition of the UK's natural beauty at its best, featuring images of stunning landscapes and cinematic countryside goes on display in London this February. National tourism agency VisitBritain believes it will help challenge mistaken perceptions that Britain ranks just 23rd out of 36 countries for being rich in natural beauty.

The exhibition from 21 February to 9 March at the.gallery@oxo features stunning images – one up to nine feet in length – spanning the whole of the UK from Upper Loch Torridon in the Highlands to Winterbourne Abbas, Dorset, from County Down and Conwy to Norfolk. The images reflect the variety of British landscapes from sandy shores to rocky coasts, a fairy glen and a nature reserve, lake and riverside views to moors and bluebell woods. All can be explored by British and international visitors.

Among those exhibiting at the.gallery@oxo is award-winning, Yorkshire-based landscape photographer Joe Cornish, along with Rod Edwards, David Ward and David Noton. An image taken by Landscape Photographer of the Year, Jon Gibbs, also appears.

Jasmine Teer, Britain on View’s photography manager, says: “Britain’s coast and countryside is a huge part of our appeal as a destination for visitors and the exhibition will remind people of the landscapes that we as a nation are so famous for. They represent only a small percentage of the thousands that can be downloaded from BritainOnView.com and used to promote tourism.”

The exhibition runs from 21 February to 9 March ahead of the second British Tourism Week, which kicks off on 10 March under the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales. The Week aims to galvanise organisations and individuals to take pride in being part of the nation’s fifth biggest industry. Events aim to raise the profile of an £85 billion visitor economy and draw national awareness to its critical importance and the contribution it makes to local economies and millions of livelihoods.

Tom Wright, chief executive of VisitBritain and co-chairman of British Tourism Week’s multi-sector steering committee, says: “Around 2.1 million people – nearly eight per cent of the workforce – in a wide range of sectors depend on tourism for their jobs and livelihoods.

“We want to raise the profile of destinations and tourism experiences throughout the nations and regions of Britain. We hope that if nothing else, events like the Britain On View exhibition will inspire MPs, the media, opinion-leaders and consumers to take time for a day visit or overnight stay during British Tourism Week.”

With free entry for the public, the exhibition takes place from21 February – 9 March 2008 and is open11:00am to 6:00pm, Monday to Sunday.

www.BritainonView.comis the online image library of national tourism agency, VisitBritain.- ends -

Contact: Elliott Frisby, Corporate PR Manager on 020 8563 3035, mob: 07951 996241

Notes to editors

· A small selection of images from the exhibition are available for advance media use.

· Visit www.britishtourismweek.comto help support Britain’s fifth largest industry and £85 billion visitor economy

· VisitBritain is responsible for promoting Britain as a world class tourist destination and for developing England’s visitor economy. It has representatives in 36 countries around the world and, in the last three years, has expanded into China, throughout Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, and increased its presence in India with representatives in Bangalore and Mumbai.

· In 2006, there were 32.7 million visits to Britain, 9% up on 2005. They spent over £16 billion in the UK: a 12% increase on 2005.Globally, the UK retains 6th place in visitor arrivals, slipping one place to 6th in spend.

· VisitBritain’s international website, www.visitbritain.com, was awarded World’s Leading Tourism Authority Internet Site for the fourth year in a row at the 2007 World Travel Awards by more than 200,000 travel and tourism professionals. With information provided in 26 different languages, every year over 12 million visits are made by international consumers to the 46 websites that make up visitbritain.com. VisitBritain plans to increase this to 25 million by 2009.