Janet Street-Porter has labelled Wales "grey", the language "incomprehensible", the people "gloomy", and the food terrible in a lengthy rant in her weekly column. Writing in the Daily Mail about plans to rebrand Wales so as to appeal to more tourists the outspoken TV personality said: "At the risk of sounding racist (I am half-Welsh), re-branding the place as a jolly land welcoming visitors with open arms is a nigh-impossible task that piles of cash won't change."
Janet, who co-presents ITV's Loose Women, lays out her qualifications for being able to offer up such dismissive views of Wales by explaining her mother was born in north Wales. She added: "Every school holiday until the age of 16 was spent staying with my granny in a small village in north Wales.."
She even took part in a TV reality show where she was "locked up in a derelict Welsh village" for a week and "force-fed language lessons from dawn to dusk", she says. For all her trips to Wales, however, her overriding impression is one of greyness: "Grey skies. Grey granite chapels. Grey sea," she asserts. Wales has an image problem, she adds, echoing comments made by the director of Zip World who said Wales needs to “weaponise” the Welsh language as an “advantage” because the tourists “love it”.
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Sean Taylor said that Wales needs a rebrand to make it more attractive to UK and international tourists and “get away from sheep, wet weather and… rugby”. He was giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday and said the nation should instead promote its adventure tourism destinations, “amazing” food and drink, and numerous heritage sites.
Janet doesn't so much as agree with Mr Taylor that Wales is "underselling itself" compared to rival destinations like Scotland and Ireland but says the country is virtually beyond all hope. She said: "You can change the name of Wales, you can write it in pseudo medieval script, you can emphasise trendy zipwire experiences, designer seaweed cakes, craft beer, and socks made from knitted leeks, but you can't get away from the fact that Wales – in advertising terms – is a hard sell.
"Rebranding is normally used when someone or something is beyond help. It's a last resort. Rebranding was dreamt up by the advertising industry to drum up trade and produce more income."
MPs are on the case to try and bring Wales up to speed but Janet is less than impressed. "The Welsh language is incomprehensible and one of the hardest in the world to master in a short period of time," she said. "I know, having grown up in a household where my mother, my aunt (who lived with us), and the budgerigar all spoke Welsh in front of my dad, my sister and me – every single day for 15 years."
She begrudgingly admits that the country does have "wonderful scenery, divine solitude, and lush green fields". But not even that sways her. "I won't mention the lack of decent food, the miserable inn keepers and hoteliers outside the big cities, the attitude that you (as a visitor) are a bloody inconvenience," she grumbled. "Why choose Wales when you can have a laugh in Ireland and get a roaring welcome in the Highlands? My mother and my granny both had a traditional attitude to neighbours in their village: deep distrust. If anyone dared to change their net curtains, repaint a front door, or speak to someone outside the family they must be going bonkers or having an affair."
Janet has few words of praise for Wales at all and doesn't even mention the country is home to some of the best beaches in the UK and boasts the iconic Snowdonia and Pembrokeshire Coast national parks. She cannot see beyond the the jellyfish, the rain, or the gossip, she says.
