TV weather presenters are being accused of fuelling the drop in visitor numbers to coastal resorts by revelling in the summer washout.
VisitCornwall head Malcolm Bell said television forecasters are “obsessed” with rain and create a negative image by persistently filming during downpours.
The gloomy forecasting is contributing to a 15% drop in visitors to some seaside resorts this year, he claims.
Bell said: “Don’t you just hate it when others appear to delight in an issue that may be superficial or insignificant to them, but is critical and where jobs and businesses can be at risk from inaccurate and misleading comments?
“It will not come as a surprise that the weather presenters are driving me and many in the tourist industry to rant and rave during the current unseasonal conditions.
“Likewise, I despair when weather presenters all too often seem to delight and get excited about poor weather and skip over the periods of fair weather.
“Come on guys I do not want any of you to lie – all we want is the truth and nothing but the truth,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
Bell claimed presenters seemed “obsessed with making a bad situation far worse than it should be”.
He urged the tourist industry to use the internet and social media to show Cornwall “as it is, not what they may think it is” – to ensure visitors return.
A Met Office spokesman responded: “I don’t think anyone would disagree when we say the weather so far this June and the early part of July has been rather disappointing with a good deal of wet and windy weather for many of us.”