Scotland's Whiskey Tourism Grows by a Fifth

The Press Association: Whisky tourism has grown in Scotland over the past two years, with one industry leader reporting an increase of almost 20% in visitor numbers.

Tourists have flocked to distillery visitor centres run by Diageo, with the number rising from 176,471 in 2008 to 194,505 in 2009 and to 210,432 in 2010 - an increase of 19% over the two-year period.

There were 43 nationalities recorded among the visitors to Diageo's distilleries last year, with UK tourists leading the way and accounting for 87,417 of the visits in 2010. The other top countries, in terms of visitor numbers, reflected the traditional leading markets for Scotch whisky, with Germany, France, USA and Spain making up the top five.

The increasing popularity of Scotch in emerging markets around the world was also reflected, with visitors from countries such as Brazil, China, India and Russia going on tours of Diageo's distilleries.

Diageo operates 28 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and 12 have dedicated visitor centres.

Talisker, on the Isle of Skye, was the company's busiest distillery visitor centre with 50,550 people in 2010, an increase from 41,271 in 2008 and 47,115 in 2009.

Steve Blake, general manager of Diageo's visitor centres, said the growing popularity of Scotch whisky combined with the high quality of visitor experience offered at the distilleries were the key factors in their increasing success.

He said: "Scotch whisky is this country's fastest growing export and the great thing about whisky is that it is also a fantastic advert for Scotland. It's a high-quality product which promotes Scotland as a quality tourist destination to people all round the world."

VisitScotland's chairman Mike Cantley said: "This is fantastic news as we head towards the end of the Year of Food and Drink and shows that the combination of quality products and quality visitor attractions are key to the visitor experience in Scotland."