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WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama and his family will spend a vacation weekend on the Gulf Coast in Florida next month, showing solidarity with a tourism industry hurt by the BP oil spill.

The White House said Obama would go to Florida on Saturday, August 14 and spend the weekend there, following repeated questions on whether the US first family would vacation in the region.

Obama, and his wife Michelle have repeatedly appealed to Americans to vacation on the Gulf Coast, stating that there are plenty of sandy beaches not tainted by oil from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well.