Scotch Whisky Tourism Continues To Increase In Popularity

Scottish whisky tourism seems to be ever on the increase in terms of the number of folks visiting Scotland to check out distilleries and the volume of money tourists are spending while there. This comes at a time when more sites than ever are opening their doors to showcase the brown spirit of this old industry.

New figures from the Scotch Whisky Association, the trade group representing the Scotch whisky industry, indicate there was a record 1.7 million visits last year – up almost 8% on 2015. Visits have now increased by around a quarter since 2010, and collectively Scotch whisky distilleries rank among some of the most popular Scottish and UK attractions, with a similar number of visits annually to the likes of St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Albert Hall and the Scottish National Gallery.

As is with most tourism, where the visitor goes so does his or her dollars. To that end a total of almost £53 million was spent by visitors in 2016, up from last year. And average spend per person increased 13% to £31 from £27. This has helped in part to coax distilleries to spend more themselves on their physical locales, investing in new bar areas, staff, technology, such as apps for visitors, and staff, partly as a result of longer opening hours to meet demand. Over the next 12 months, many plan to continue to invest, for example in upgrading shops and tasting areas to enhance the visitor experience.

“Scotch Whisky – Scotland’s most popular export – is known throughout the world,” said Karen Betts, Scotch Whisky Association chief executive, in a prepared statement. “It is produced right across Scotland, in some of our most beautiful landscapes and some of our remotest communities.  Each distillery is distinctly of its place.  Their histories, stories and modern-day craftsmanship fascinate locals and overseas visitors alike. It’s not surprising that more and more tourists are visiting Scotland’s distilleries to see how Scotch is made and to meet the people involved.”

Distilleries reported that the largest proportion of visitors came from Germany, Scotland and other parts of the UK, the USA, and France. Distilleries are also popular with whisky enthusiasts from Sweden and Norway. The success of whisky festivals, such as Islay and Speyside, are also helping to attract new visitors to distilleries.