Wales' tourism sector performed better than anticipated between January and September last year, according to the latest UK Tourism Survey results.

The study found that UK residents made nearly 7.3 million visits to Wales that involved an overnight stay, down one per cent on the previous year.

Meanwhile, the total number of nights spent in Wales by domestic residents increased by one per cent to nearly 28.9 million.

Visitors to wales spent £1.237m, up three per cent on 2009.

Welsh heritage minister Alun Ffred Jones said: "It is very heartening to see the results indicating that performance was not as bad as predicted and that Wales held up well."

Image: Rhossili beach, Gower Peninsula – Neepster