CHESTER Zoo is gearing up for a bank holiday of family fun after coming on board an Enjoy England campaign.

Enjoy England, together with the National Trust, has launched its Family Fun guide for 20007/8, featuring 90 of England's top family attractions.

Included on a child-friendly map and interactive Family Fun website is Chester Zoo, currently enjoying one of the busiest years for visitors in its history. So far this year, more than 350,000 people have visited the zoo.

Sharon Leeson, Head of Marketing and Development at Chester Zoo said: "As one of the top tourist attractions in the country, we are always supportive of campaigns that promote family activities and tourism, not just in the North West but in the UK as a whole.

"So far, we are enjoying one of our busiest years and, since September last year, have enjoyed record-breaking months for visitors. We are looking forward to welcoming many more visitors during May, particularly over the bank holidays.

"Our visitor numbers are proof, not just of the popularity of the zoo, but also of the strength of the tourism industry as a whole and that's why we are glad to be involved in the Family Fun campaign."

The Family Fun map and website features the top 10 attractions in England's nine regions, themed around amusement parks, animals, nature, exploring and discovery and arts and water. For children there are stickers and a score chart to mark off and rate attractions they have visited.

Laurence Bresh of VisitBritain's Enjoy England team said: "Families account for 45% of the UK's population and encouraging even a fraction of these 27 million people to Enjoy England could help raise the value of England's £68 billion visitor economy.

"Our Family Fun campaign is critical in helping us create awareness of the rich variety of holidays that families can enjoy in England and as a leading visitor attraction it is fantastic that Chester Zoo features on the map to assist us in doing this."

Chester Zoo is home to 7,000 animals, many of which are endangered and attracts more than one million visitors a year. The new attraction for 2007 is the opening of Realm of the Red Ape, a new home for Sumatran and Bornean orang-utans - the largest enclosure of its kind in Europe.

The website can be found at www.enjoyengland.com/family. For a free Family Fun map and stickers call 0845 603 6956.