Tourism leaders say their industry has been sidelined by an Assembly Government that does not appreciate its importance to the economy, a leaked report reveals today.

It proposes setting up a new public-private organisation to give the industry a bigger say.

The Opposition said the call showed the abolition of the Wales Tourist Board in 2006, part of Rhodri Morgan's bonfire of the quangos, had failed.

In their analysis and action plan, consultants commissioned by industry body the Wales Tourism Alliance (WTA) say the Assembly Government's current set-up is stopping Wales from reaching its potential.

Some functions should be handed to a new body, provisionally called NOW4Tourism, to make sure the industry has a voice in policy-making.

The Conservatives, who opposed Labour's quango mergers, demanded ministers act on the recommendation in time for next year's tourist season.

The report says: "The almost unanimous grass roots view is that there needs to be clear national leadership for tourism involving both public and private sectors.’’ Businesses find the Visit Wales agency, which is meant to support and promote them, has become "more remote and less approachable’’ since the Assembly Government assumed control of it.

It says there is great and extensive concern that the Assembly Government "do not really appreciate tourism's economic importance’’.

Moving Visit Wales between government departments - from Economic Development to Heritage - has been widely seen "rightly or wrongly, as a sidelining of the industry from the economic mainstream’’.

Visitors to Wales spend about £3.5 billion a year and about 80,000 jobs depend on tourism. In Conwy it accounts for 16% of jobs and 12% in Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd.

But the consultants found tourism marketing is "significantly under-funded’’ compared to Scotland and Ireland which have strong international brands.

The Assembly Government said the leak, obtained by Tory AM Alun Cairns, was a draft report recently submitted to Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones who had asked the WTA to get a picture of where the industry stands.

Mr Cairns said: "It is clear from this report that the tourism industry has been hit hard by failures in Government policy and the abolition of the Tourist Board. They have been burnt by Rhodri Morgan's bonfire of the quangos.

"This is a damning indictment of the Welsh Assembly Government and underlines everything I and my colleagues were saying when we opposed the abolition of the Tourist Board and Welsh Development Agency.’’ An Assembly Government spokeswoman said: "Although the minister has not yet had the opportunity to fully consider all the review's recommendations he has noted the call for greater industry partnership with government and other bodies.

"He would like to have far wider industry involvement in the development of tourism policy and strategy and will be investigating ways of doing so.’’ Mr Jones this week announced a summit with the WTA to discuss the impact of the economic downturn.