TOURISM CHIEFS are right in trying to create a single brand for Wales, a councillor has argued.

The Wales Tourist Board wants to encourage tourism operators across the country to promote a distinctive Welsh tourism experience. Its cultural tourism strategy document was discussed last week by Pembrokeshire County Councils leisure committee. Head of the leisure department, Erica Fielding, felt the document overlooked regional cultural differences.

There is an inclination to create a blanket Welsh culture when we should be trying to celebrate our cultural diversity, she said. But Councillor Michael Williams said: Ireland has created a successful brand for tourism, yet the differences between areas of Ireland are huge. We can market Wales as a brand.

Ms Fielding said the Ireland brand had evolved through its strong global recognition, and had not been suddenly created. Councillor Steve Watkins said tourism chiefs had no choice but to create a Welsh brand.

It may have no more to do with cultural reality than flamenco dancers or smashing plates in Greece, but it is a fact of life that to sell something you have to brand it, he said. The committee chairman, Councillor Tom Richards, said he would inform the Wales Tourist Board that the committee broadly welcomed the document.