WELSH Conservatives want to scrap Visit Wales and replace it with an arms-length tourism body outside the Welsh Government.

Spokeswoman Suzy Davies AM said the Welsh Labour’s decision to shut down the Wales Tourist Board in 2006 was “a huge mistake” and pledged to inject an entrepreneurial spirit into the industry if the party form a Welsh Government in 2016.

Welsh Conservatives recently undertook a "detailed" consultation with 142 Welsh tourism businesses, with just 28.7 per cent backing Visit Wales to remain part of Welsh Government.

They said that despite a more concerted effort by Visit Wales in the last two years, many of the businesses who took part in the process raised concerns over Visit Wales’ “unimaginative” promotion of Wales as a tourist destination.

Whilst figures show that visitor numbers are rising, Welsh Conservatives believe that the industry would do much better if it were allowed to take direct responsibility for overall strategy.

An arms-length body would oversee a “shift in culture” at the heart of Welsh tourism and would embrace the introduction of industry elected representatives; a move backed by 85 per cent of businesses who took part in the recent consultation.

Speaking at the Eisteddfod in Montgomeryshire today, Suzy Davies said: “It was a huge mistake to scrap the Wales Tourist Board in the first place. Clearly it needed to be refreshed, but its loss rendered a world-recognised brand obsolete at the stroke of a pen.

“Whilst there is undoubtedly talent in Visit Wales, as part of a government department, it is crippled by its risk-averse nature."

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, said that a “shift in culture” would boost creativity.

But the Visit Wales website links to Welsh Government statistics showing that 2014 was a "record-breaking year" for tourism in Wales as the number of overnight visits to Wales by British residents hit an "impressive" 10 million for the first time since the Great Britain Tourism Survey was set up in its present form in 2006.

A government spokesman said the amount spent by GB visitors in Wales was also the highest on record at £1.735 billion. This shows an increase of 2.3 per cent while the total expenditure on overnight trips in GB as a whole fell by 2.6 per cent compared with 2013.