TOURISM minister Shaun Woodward is to visit Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery on Thursday.
The MP for St Helens will be meeting staff and viewing displays at the tourist attraction in Museum Street.
Blackburn with Darwen Council chiefs said the museum was just one of the many attraction which attracted visitors to the borough each year.
Almost five million people visited the borough in 2005, generating £160m of spending on accommodation, food and drink, shopping, leisure and transport, council bosses said.
The ministerial visit comes just days after the Lewis Textile collection went on show again to the public in a new gallery at the Blackburn Museum.
Steve Rigby, director of culture, leisure and sport at the council, said: "We are delighted that Mr Woodward is coming to visit our museum.
"We are very proud of our collections and I am sure he will find it both enjoyable and informative.
"The borough of Blackburn with Darwen is a wonderful place to visit and that is why people come back again, year after year."
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