Chris Davies has attacked the Welsh Government for what he called its “failure” to back the tourism industry in Wales.
The MP’s comments come as figures show that overnight stays in Wales have fallen dramatically over the past year, while across the rest of the UK the tourism industry is seeing a boom.
In the first five years of the Welsh Assembly’s takeover of the formerly independent Wales Tourism Board, overnight stays in Wales fell by around 15%. Figures released from the Great British Tourism Survey from the past year show another reduction of 1.8 million tourism nights spent in Wales.
Mr Davies said: “We are right to be proud of our tourism industry in Brecon and Radnorshire, celebrating our beautiful landscape and the people that live here, and I will always stand up for our industry. Indeed, large numbers of excellent local businesses in our area rely upon the tourism trade each year, and the knock on effect to our local economy is substantial.
"However, the news of a fall of almost 100,000 domestic visits to Wales last year is deeply troubling, particularly when other areas of the UK are seeing significant growth in their industries.
"That is why it is simply not acceptable that the Welsh Government sit idly by, watching our tourism industry decline. Before the Welsh Government took control of tourism in Wales, the interests of those of us in Mid Wales were much better served by the independent Wales Tourism Board.
"All the Welsh Government has to show for its needless takeover of the board is abject failure."
Mr Davies is calling on the Assembly to reappoint the tourism board and to lower tax on the tourism industry.
"At times of uncertainty following the Brexit vote, now is the time that we should be standing up for the tourism industry in Brecon and Radnorshire – for one thing we can be certain about is that our area is the best area to visit anywhere in the world,” he said.