BUSINESS leaders on the Isle of Wight are calling for urgent action to avert an estimated one-third drop-off in the number of tourists.

Research by the Island's chamber of commerce suggests visitor numbers over the key Easter break plummeted by 30 per cent and trade was "significantly down".

Ferry operators and hoteliers all reported dwindling numbers of visitors and advance bookings are also showing a decline.

Chamber bosses blamed "a general lack of marketing" as a major factor behind tourists' decision to stay away and demanded answers from the council over the distribution of the official Isle of Wight Tourism Guide.

The chamber is already at loggerheads with the council in a row over the future of the Island's £360m tourism industry.

It has called into doubt the council's "ability to manage and govern effectively" after the council declined to support Isle of Wight Tourism Limited - a move to create a dedicated tourism company for the Island.

David Groocock, chairman of the chamber's tourist board, said the recent downturn was due to poor weather, an economic slowdown, the fact that it was the earliest Easter for almost 100 years and poor marketing.

He said: "The first three reasons we can do nothing about, but the fourth reason we can. I may have been looking in the wrong places but to date I have not seen one single advert for the Isle of Wight.

"Worryingly it appears worse is still to come. Advance bookings for the holiday season are well down on previous years as well. Many advertisers in the official guide tell me that the response rate from the guide is down at least 50 per cent.

"This could, of course, be a coincidence. But we are still asking the council, which has received advertising revenue from the tourism industry, for a full breakdown on guide distribution.

Improvement "We need to know the answers to these questions so that we can try to arrest the situation before it gets too late to do anything to help tourism businesses this year."

The chamber hopes its IoW Tourism venture will trigger a dramatic improvement in the industry, which supports more than 30,000 jobs, and is the Island's biggest employer.

Council leader Councillor David Pugh, said: "A more reliable indication of how successful the Island is marketing itself is the number of official guides that are being distributed and already we have had 40,000 more requests for those this year than in 2006/07.

"Indeed for the first time in recent years we are considering ordering a re-print to meet this high demand.

"We have received no official figures to confirm tourism activity was down over Easter. However, this year's holiday was unusual in several ways that could all have had a bearing on the visitor economy.

"Not only was Easter unusually early - and inclement - this year, it was also separate from the school holidays."