US viewers told 'Wales is still open'

A multi-pronged campaign has been launched to rescue Wales's tourist industry from the blight of foot-and-mouth.

The Wales Tourist Board (WTB) was given a £1.5m aid package on Thursday by the Welsh Assembly to help to re-launch the country's attractions abroad.

Wales is still open for business. It is safe to visit Wales. Wales has always been welcoming, now more than ever

Mike German, Assembly Deputy First Secretary

And on Wednesday, Welsh Assembly Finance Minister Edwina Hart announced that she was making £12m available to provide rate relief to 20,000 linked with agriculture and tourism.

Assembly Deputy First Secretary Mike German has asked the WTB to bring forward marketing plans to reposition Wales as a top destination.

But Mr German - the minister responsible for economic development - said the real push to promote tourism in Wales must come when the disease showed signs of abating.

His comments came just hours after he appeared on network television in the US appealing for tourists not to boycott Wales in light the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Mr German's appeal was broadcast on CNN

He told millions of American viewers: "Wales is still open for business. It is safe to visit Wales. Wales has always been welcoming, now more than ever."

During the interview with CNN, Mr German attempted to lure back foreign visitors who are reported to be frightened to eat British food and worried about witnessing culled animals being burned.

Steve Hindmarsh - owner of this year's Pub of the Year, the Bear Hotel in Crickwhowell - said a group of American tourists arrived for a meal and refused to eat anything on the menu which contained meat.

He faces having to lay off 30 staff because foreign visitors are staying away.

Earlier this month, NFU Cymru were furious when they heard that American tourists planning to visit Wales had been told to avoid eating meat during their stay because of foot-and-mouth disease.

Tourists are choosing alternatives to meat

American-born farmer Dorothy Williams, now living in north Wales, heard of the scare mongering from her sister in the US, who is planning to visit her in April.

Her sister told her that she planned to eat only chicken and fish while in Wales because of advice from the American agricultural attaché.

Tourism is one of Wales's largest industries employing one in 10 of the workforce and worth £2bn a year.

Trade is down by at least 25%, but some businesses are already suffering losses of up to 75%.

Many parts of rural Wales have been severely hit by the foot-and-mouth outbreak - and farmers who have diversified to include tourism as a sideline have been doubly hit.

Mike German made a US television appeal

A programme of slaughtering 40,000 sheep has begun on Anglesey and plans for a second mass cull in Powys are being finalised.

On Wednesday, tourism operators in Brecon, mid Wales, took matters into their own hands.

Around 50 businesses joined forces to put together a mailshot of 20,000 brochures - trying to lure tourists back in.

They are being sent across the country - mainly to the south east of England and the midlands.

Meanwhile, the WTB has insisted that many businesses are "throwing open their doors" in time for the Easter holidays with precautions in place to prevent the foot-and-mouth outbreak spreading to unaffected areas.