The government has been accused of failing to understand the UK's tourism industry by leading members of the travel sector.
Hotel and leisure chiefs, upset with the government's tourism budget cuts, have launched the Take Tourism Seriously campaign as part of the Tourism Alliance.
Ros Pritchard, chairman of the Tourism Alliance said that government has not increased VisitBritain's funding for some ten years, the Daily Telegraph reports.
"Funding is always a clear indicator of the importance that government departments place on specific sectors," Mr Pritchard remarked.
"Obviously they do not take the industry seriously," he added.
According to the alliance, the government is planning to reduce funding for VisitBritain by 18 per cent over the next three years.
Commenting last month, Mr Prichard said that in "real terms", the move would mean that the organisation's funding will have been cut by 50 per cent between 1997 and 2011.
