Wales needs a rebrand because it is only known for "sheep, wet weather and rugby", MPs have been told.

       The nation should instead promote its adventure tourism destinations, "amazing" food and drink and numerous heritage sites, Sean Taylor, boss of tourist attraction Zip World, told the Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

       Stephen Davies, chief executive of Penderyn Distillery, Portmeirion Cymru's Ian Roberts, and Paul Lewin from FFestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways agreed the country was often "overshadowed" by Scotland, Ireland and England because of its comparatively "weak" brand.

       "It's a complicated and long-term strategy for how we build brand Wales, and I think we definitely need to get away from sheep, wet weather and – even as a president of my local rugby club – rugby as well. Because football has come to the fore now," Mr Taylor said.

       "If you look at the brand in Wales it is fairly weak compared to the Irish brand and the Scottish brand in particular.

       "At the moment I think we get overshadowed quite a bit. You've got the Royal family down in London, you've got tartan and Loch Ness in Scotland and in Ireland you've got Guinness."

       Other suggestions included more use of the country's name Cymru, rather than the English version of Wales, and putting an emphasis on the Welsh language.

       "The language needs to be weaponised as an advantage, not a threat," said Mr Taylor.

       "I feel there's often negative connotations about the language. But our international and English visitors love the use of the Welsh language.

       "We get school groups from England and by the time they leave they can say 'bore da', 'prynhawn da', 'croeso'. They love it, they embrace it."

       Mr Roberts, from Portmeirion, the Italianate tourist village, said: "We've always put a strong emphasis on the culture, tradition and the language. Over 90 per cent of the people who work in Portmeirion speak Welsh.

       "We believe that tourists who come to Portmeirion enjoy hearing the language and they enjoy hearing that it's a vibrant and alive language.

       "We think it could be used more, including the use of the term Cymru other than Wales.

       "As we've seen with the Welsh football team, they've really developed, on and off the pitch, the use of the Welsh language, and the use of Cymru has been a huge factor in that."

       The businesses called on the Welsh Government to increase its tourism budget, as it is a devolved power, to improve communication about Wales' identity and why people should visit.