Thousands of tourism industry operators from south west Wales are being asked to take part in one of the most ambitious business surveys for over a decade

Accommodation, activity and attraction providers are all being urged to take up the chance to comment on their most up-to-date visitor numbers and performance to give the widest possible picture ever of the region's £1 billion visitor economy.

Andrew Evans, chair of the South West Wales Tourism Partnership (SWWTP) and owner of the St. Brides Hotel and Spa in Saundersfoot, commented: "The aim is to gain up-to-date feedback which will not only give a true reflection of the summer season, but will also enable trade bodies, local government and other stakeholder groups to meet the industry's needs and raise key issues with the Welsh Assembly Government."

Commissioned by SWWTP, the survey, which started in late September and will run online for until October 18, has been designed by three tourism trade associations of the region - Pembrokeshire Tourism, Carmarthenshire Tourism and Tourism Swansea Bay in consultation with their respective local aauthority partners and Visit Wales.

"Once gathered, the information will be analysed county by county, to ensure that business plans drawn up by all the organisations involved and their partners assist in keeping tourism at the forefront of a particularly competitive and demanding political agenda."

Taking no more than 15 minutes to complete, the questionnaire covers some 30 topics and seeks to assess this year's performance along with plans for future marketing, investment and staff training initiatives for the year ahead.

Hosted by an independent research company, all information gathered will be treated in the strictest confidence.

The survey can be found by following the weblink at http://www.ors.org.uk/swwtp09">http://www.ors.org.uk/swwtp09