Whisky Tourism in High Spirits as Visitor Numbers Grow

[William]

Whisky Tourism in High Spirits as Visitor Numbers Grow

Distilleries attract over 1.2m visitors, spending £22.4m

Visitor numbers released today by ScotlandWhisky - the national whisky tourism
initiative - reveal Scotch Whisky's growing importance to Scotland's tourism
industry.

Following the most extensive survey of distilleries ever undertaken, ScotlandWhisky
announced today that 1,233,696 visitors toured a distillery in 2007. This is a 2.6%
increase in visitors over the last three years.

Visitors also made an increasingly important contribution to the local economy, with
more £22.4 million1 spent at whisky visitor attractions across Scotland, a 17.8%
increase over the same period.

Chris Conway from ScotlandWhisky said:
"These figures are a testament to Scotch Whisky's importance to Scotland's tourism
experience. Scotch Whisky is recognised worldwide, but can only be produced in
Scotland. Using Scotch to encourage tourists to come and explore Scotland is a real
advantage to the country, bringing visitors and economic benefits to many communities
from Islay to Speyside."?

Today's figures show that the average spend per visitor at a distillery is £18.70, which is
over three times the national average of £6.072. This demonstrates the
disproportionately highly beneficial impact on the economy that Scotland's fifty distillery
visitor centres and Whisky themed attractions create.

As well as their economic impact, distilleries are also adding to tourists' positive
experience of Scotland with well over 60%3 of distillery visitor centres being rated four or five star by VisitScotland's quality assurance team. Nearly 23% of the five star visitor
attractions in Scotland are distilleries.

Chris Conway went on to say:
"These figures, though impressive, only take into account sales at distillery visitor
centres; if we were to augment them with tourist sales at ScotlandWhisky Embassy
hotels and Whisky bars, as well as other local attractions, we would be talking of an
even greater impact that Scotch Whisky brings to Scotland."?

Source: SWA

William