That's the claim of regional Conservative AM Alun Cairns who said that the number of tourists visiting Wales had fallen by more than 1.2m during the past three years - despite the recession and the strong Euro.

"We have heard so much about staycations and people opting to stay in the UK for their holiday that I was expecting to see that Welsh tourism operators and destinations had benefited," he said. "So to find out that there had been a fall of 11 per cent between 2006 and 2008 is a blow.

"The Welsh Assembly Government has failed to market Wales properly both in Britain and abroad because there has been a drop in visitors coming from the UK and from overseas. We have had a golden opportunity in Wales to exploit the trend of more people holidaying at home but it has been squandered."

Mr Cairns said that cuts to the marketing budget for tourism were now taking effect.

"Wales should have been one of the major UK destinations for holidaymakers and it is a scandal that there has been this failure at the top of government to seize this opportunity.

"It would appear that the abolition of the Wales Tourist Board in 2006 has been another expensive mistake by Labour but it is the owners of holiday attractions and accommodation and their staff who are paying the price - not the civil servants or ministers in Cardiff."