PEMBROKESHIRE'S tourism businesses enjoyed a great year in 2017, new figures reveal.

Self-catering, caravan and camping sites, hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts were all busier than the previous year.

Occupancy levels of over 50 per cent were achieved by the self-catering sector in January, February and December, when around 20 per cent would be normally expected.

There were significant increases for five of the eight months that caravan and camping businesses are open.

And hotels, b&bs and guesthouse accommodation also welcomed more visitors than in 2016.

They had an average room occupancy of 47.5 per cent in 2017, compared to 45.9 per cent the previous year.

They also experienced much better levels of business in most autumn, winter and spring months.

The latest figures show that great progress has been made towards increasing the number of visitors coming to Pembrokeshire outside the peak summer months.

This is a long-term goal of the Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership, whose key partners are Pembrokeshire County Council, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Pembrokeshire Tourism and Planed.

Said Pembrokeshire County Council's tourism marketing and development manager, Alan Turner: "We have been actively promoting reasons to visit throughout the year and have seen a big increase in press coverage, website use and social media engagement over the last five years.

"The Visit Pembrokeshire website has seen a whopping 60 per cent growth in visits and should reach our target of one million users in 2018."

The figures have been welcomed by the authority's cabinet member for economy, tourism, leisure and culture, Paul Miller.

He said: "Reducing the seasonal nature of tourism is essential if we want to provide quality employment opportunities and encourage investment."