It looks like we brought the rain with us

Cherie Blair

Suntanned from their recent break in Mexico, Mr and Mrs Blair signed autographs for fellow holidaymakers as they visited Charleston Harbour, near St Austell.

A bucket and spade and a guitar case were among the luggage taken inside the luxury Carlyon Bay Hotel, where the family are staying in a holiday seen as a show of solidarity with an area hard hit by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Rain jokes

Mrs Blair joked as she greeted the crowds who gathered to welcome them: "It looks like we brought the rain with us. That's not very good, is it?"

After a walkabout between the showers, the couple went into the Bosuns diner for a cream tea with Teresa Timms and Deborah Smith from the Cornwall Tourist Board.

Mr Blair will be hoping to enjoy more relaxation than on his last visit to the Carlyon Bay Hotel, which hosts spectacular sea views over the cliffs.

He stayed there before to meet Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern for an emergency summit when trouble hit the Northern Ireland peace process in February last year.

This holiday, interpreted as an attempt to boost British tourism in the wake of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, has been welcomed by many tourism leaders in the region.

'Missing the boat'

But a country hotelier in Devon argued the prime minister had gone to the wrong part of the West Country.

Philippa Hughes, who owns the Holne Chase hotel near Dartmoor, said visitors had this year been opting for coastal resorts over country breaks because of the disease.

"This was an opportunity to really give a boost to the areas which most needed it - I think he (Mr Blair) has missed the boat," she said.

However, Simon Bradley, spokesman for South West Tourism, said he was certain that many people would have preferred the Blairs to visit their bit of the south west.

"But if you look at it on a regional context he has chosen the south west above every other part of Britain, and we have got to be really pleased about that and try to make the most of it," he said.

Next stop France

And David Hill, who is chairman of the National Farmers Union in Devon, said he was delighted that the Blairs had decided to come to the West Country.

"I greatly welcome him to the south west, although I am sorry from a personal point of view it is Cornwall not Devon."

The next stage of the Blairs' holiday plans, is a trip to France.

Originally it was announced that the prime minister and his family would fly with easyJet rather than Ryanair which is now Mr Blair's choice.