A new film by movie giant DreamWorks called �Madagascar�, which is to open in the UK on July 1, is set to increase tourism to the country in the same way that The Lion King did for Kenya, according to Rainbow Tours (www.rainbowtours.co.uk Tel 020 7226 1004), the UK�s specialist tour operator for Madagascar. The tour operator is backing the calls of conservation groups for the computer-animated comedy to be used as a springboard for promoting ecotourism and the vital conservation work in the country.

It is hoped that the country�s endangered lemur population will become a symbol of conservation as the new film depicts how an animated lion escapes from a New York zoo and ends up being shipwrecked off Madagascar and meeting-up with the local lemur population. Lemurs are unique to Madagascar, with 69 remaining species and sub-species, of which 24 are endangered. The new blockbuster features the voices of Ben Stiller (Meet the Fockers), David Schwimmer (Friends) and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Environmental groups � including Conservation International - are determined to ensure that the interest generated by the new film stimulates the sort of tourism that will continue to preserve Madagascar�s varied and increasingly endangered animals and forests. Indeed, the President of DreamWorks, Mr Katzenberg, has already pledged half a million dollars from his own pocket to help promote ecotourism in the country.

Ecotourism has been very successful in Madagascar and is used to create jobs and generate funds for villagers, giving the local population a chance to improve their lives, while preserving their precious natural environment.

Rainbow Tours offers guided ecotours to the country with opportunities to visit the forests, local conservation projects, spot wildlife (including the largest surviving lemur, the Indri) and relax on the amazing beaches. Madagascar is legendary for its profusion of wildlife and flora, 80% of which is found nowhere else on earth.

Sample Package: The seven-night �Madagascar Made Easy� tour costs from �1,795 per person sharing between now and the end of June, and from �1,895 per person sharing between 1 and 15 July 2005. The package includes three nights at the Vakona Forest Lodge, four nights at the Anjajavy Lodge and one night in Antananarivo, plus flights from London Heathrow via Milan to Antananarivo with Alitalia and Air Madagascar, transfers and full board.

For further information on Rainbow Tours visit www.rainbowtours.co.uk or call 020 7226 1004 for a brochure.

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

� Conservation International�s chief executive, Peter Seligmann, first found out about the film �Madagascar� while he was visiting the Anjajavy Lodge in Madagascar, which is featured by Rainbow Tours.

� Anjajavy is a luxurious, small beach resort on the remote northwest coast of Madagascar. While there, Mr Seligmann learned about the film from Sylvia Stanat, a retired North Carolina virologist, who was travelling with Rainbow Tours � her son was working on the film and she wanted to beat the rush.

� Anjajavy is prominent in Rainbow Tours� programme because it is an exemplary employer and engine for rural development, an intimate beach resort, and an extremely comfortable base for discovering the lemurs of the threatened tropical deciduous forest.

� Conservation International � whose board members include Queen Noor of Jordon and actor Harrison Ford � has lobbied DreamWorks to use the film to promote the country�s ecotourism and encouraged its own members to make donations.

� The personal donation of half a million dollars by DreamWorks President Mr. Katzenberg made to Conservation International was used in part to help advise the country�s new tourism task force, set-up to deal with an influx of visitors.

� Conservation International and the U.S. Agency for International Development put together a tourism conference in the capital Antananarivo last month to help those involved in the country�s travel and tourism prepare for the release of the film.

PRESS ENQUIRIES:

Julia Spence or Angela Lewis Julia Spence Public Relations: Tel 01491 824524 or Mobile 07802 443113 Email julia.spence@ukonline.co.uk