Patricia Ferguson said the growth in tourism would continue

There were nearly 2.4m tourists in 2005, a 50% increase on 2001 - the year of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and the World Trade Center attacks.

Tourism Minister Patricia Ferguson welcomed the increase.

However, the Conservatives questioned whether the rise was a consequence of Scottish Executive policy and the SNP called for more transport investment.

The statistics revealed tourism was worth �4.2bn to the Scottish economy, with �1.2bn spent by overseas visitors.

This success is testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of Scotland's tourism industry Philip Riddle VisitScotland

Ms Ferguson said: "These figures, set against a competitive and ever-changing international market, are encouraging and all the signs are that these fantastic growth rates will continue."

She said the executive, and the industry, aimed to increase tourism revenues by 50% over the next decade.

"To achieve this, the private sector and public sector must build on their already excellent working relationship to ensure Scotland remains a must-visit return destination," she said.

Ms Ferguson announced that tourism agency VisitScotland would receive an extra �800,000 for more marketing of direct air services to Scotland.

VisitScotland chief executive Philip Riddle said: "This success is not down to VisitScotland alone, it is also testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of Scotland's tourism industry.

Transport connections

"To ensure that we build on this success and foster growth in the UK and international markets, we must continue to work together."

The figures revealed that there were 1.59 million visitors in 2001 and in 2002, 1.57 million in 2003, 1.88 million in 2004 and 2.39 million in 2005.

VisitScotland said the large annual increase was partly explained by the inclusion for the first time of Prestwick Airport as a sampling point.

The SNP's tourism spokesman Fergus Ewing said Scotland needed world-class transport connections to attract greater numbers of tourists in the future.

VisitScotland is to receive an extra �800,000 for marketing

Jamie McGrigor, the Conservative tourism spokesman, said the executive's scrapping of local tourist boards had led to discontent within the industry.

The comments came ahead of a debate on the final stage of the Tourist Boards (Scotland) Bill on Wednesday.

The bill formalises a shake-up which has seen 14 area tourist boards replaced by a single integrated VisitScotland.

The SNP supported the bill but called on the executive to take steps to encourage more direct connections between Scotland and the US.