Michelle Obama today used her first visit to the Gulf coast devastated by the BP oil spill to urge Americans to support the local economy by spending their summer holidays there.

However, after extolling the "thousands of miles of beautiful beaches" untouched by the spill and urging people to "do a few things [to] help this community", America's first lady headed back to Washington to prepare for a family holiday to a national park in Maine at the weekend.

Conservative blogs, were quick to attack the Obamas for a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude, pointing out that the first family will have taken three holidays since the oil spill began in April, none of them in the Gulf region.

The first saw them visit Asheville, North Carolina, as the Deepwater Horizon rig was sinking into the Gulf of Mexico.

In May, Barack Obama was criticised for taking his family on a private trip to his hometown, Chicago, over the Memorial Day weekend instead of honouring fallen soldiers in a traditional service at Arlington National Cemetery, in Washington.

Michelle Obama urged support for the Gulf coast in a speech at the Panama City Beach welcome centre. Hoteliers along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have seen bookings plummet since the oil spill crisis began.