The welcome for tourists visiting Oxfordshire is not up to scratch, the head of the county’s tourism board has said.

Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire Hayley Beer-Gamage said more must be done to make visitors’ experiences consistent and we need more city hotel rooms.

It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement last Friday about the Government’s five-point plan to boost tourism across the UK.

Ms Beer-Gamage said: “Visitor welcome is a huge issue. There has been a lot of work going on with the city council, but there is a feeling that the welcome across Oxfordshire isn’t good enough.

“We’ve had quite a few complaints about taxi drivers, for example. If that welcome isn’t good enough, it can tarnish your whole experience [as a visitor].

“There is a shortage of accommodation in the city, but not in county. The only obvious way to fix the problem is to unlock land and build more bedrooms.”

Ms Beer-Gamage added the one of the board’s aims was to grow the value of the visitor economy to get more people to stay longer and spend more.

She added: “We have work to do in terms of raising standards across the board.

“I travel a lot and one of the things I am always astounded by is when I go to somewhere like Newcastle, if you get in a taxi there, the driver will talk to you, welcome you, ask you why you are there. We absolutely have to raise our game.”

The points raised by the head of Experience Oxfordshire – who was appointed three months ago – have attracted mixed responses by people who work in public services throughout the city.

Hackney Cab driver Aaron Smith said he thought it was a welcoming place.

He added: “I’m always very grateful for tourists coming to the city. They provide more business, so the more the merrier. I try to be very nice and good to customers because it affects everybody.”

Former Hackney Cab driver Richard Barlow said he did not know where the idea of Oxford not being welcoming had come from.

He added: “I think the people are welcoming. If you can get into the city centre it’s quite nice with all the colleges and historic buildings.”

Mad Hatter tour guide Alasdair de Voil said he thought the city had a lot to offer tourists. “There is always two sides to the coin, but I have never heard of anyone not feeling welcome,” he explained.

“But that does depend on where people go. I think one issue is when people come out of the train station. There needs to be clear information on how people can get the best out of their time in the city.”