Super-fast broadband is needed across Norfolk to ensure one of the county's key industries can keep up with the competition, tourism bosses said yesterday.

The sector faces major disadvantages as hotels, attractions and other companies increasingly turn to the internet to boost their marketing, take bookings and order supplies.

But, with many Norfolk businesses based in rural areas, painfully slow broadband speeds stop them making the most of the technology available.

Richard Ellis, chairman of Norfolk Tourism, said the situation would get worse as businesses in big cities got access to even faster connections. He added: 'We are being put at a serious competitive disadvantage in this part of the world. The playing field is becoming increasingly un-level.'

Tourism is one of two priorities for the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership as it lobbies government for support. Spokesman Chris Starkie said slow broadband affected both the way the county's business operated and the services they could offer visitors once they got here.

He said: 'When people want to visit tourism destinations, they will look at it online. If you are in a rural area where you can't market yourself because you don't have a web site, you cannot compete properly.'

Unlike some businesses, attractions and accommodation providers cannot rely on a local customer base and must be able to market themselves on a national and international basis.

A website, online bookings and using social media to contact potential customers have become essential.

At Reepham-based Norfolk Country Cottages, owned by Mr Ellis, they also rely on the internet to store data and have a newsletter which is regularly emailed to 12,500 people.

Marketing director James Ellis said: 'If we do that in the day, it will slow up the rest of our systems for everybody for four hours.'

Mark Oakden is the chief executive for Pocket Places, a company based near Barton Broad which produces tourism apps for mobile phones.

It can take four to five hours to upload one application to Apple for use on their iPhones.

But even once they are available for customers, Mr Oakden said poor speeds – whether it was a hotel's wireless connection or a mobile signal – prevented visitors making the most of the tool to find out about attractions in Norfolk.

'Research has shown that up to 80pc of people change their holiday itinerary due to information they discover after they have arrived somewhere,' he said.

'I would hate to see Norfolk stuck in the world of paper leaflets in tourist information centres because it doesn't have a decent broadband connectivity.'

victoria.leggett@archant.co.uk