Project History and Facts

The Scotch Whisky Tourism Initiative, now known as ScotlandWhisky, was launched in September 2003 by Jim Wallace MSP, the then Deputy First Minister, and Ian Good Chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association.   The project is a partnership between the public and private sectors, with the aim of exploring where the Tourism and Scotch Whisky industries can work together to realise mutual commercial benefits. It is financed by the Scotch Whisky Association, The Scotch Whisky Experience, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and VisitScotland.

A powerful partnership  

The international reach of Scotch Whisky makes it a powerful and positive icon for Scotland.  As the leading premium spirit in the world it not only underpins Scotland as a country synonymous with global commerce but also as a destination where high quality is to be expected.  Scotch Whisky is an ambassador for Scotland.     

Global reach:

• Scotch Whisky is the world's international spirit drink, exported to over 200 countries.

• The Scotch Whisky industry is worth £2.5 billion annually.

• Scotland and Scotch Whisky are synonymous with one another:

"Scotch Whisky is the most powerful part of the spirits and wines sector, while Scotland itself is the most powerful country of origin for the products" -The Power 100 report 2006 published by Intangible Business[1]

• Scotch Whisky is the product, by far, most associated with Scotland[2]

A gap in the market

In 2005 the Henley Centre identified "Whisky connoisseurship" as one of its "easy areas of growth for Scottish tourism".  It can only be claimed by Scotland and taps into the wider opportunity of educational based travel.[3]

The Scotch Whisky Embassy network

The first programme the project established was the Scotch Whisky Embassy network.  This is a group of hotels that fulfil a set quality criteria and have sent their key staff to the Scotch Whisky training school - a day-long training programme which covers all aspects of production, appreciation, selection and the responsible serving of Scotch Whisky. It ends with a 45 minute exam[4], which must be passed to allow a hotel to become an Embassy.

The idea behind the Embassy network is to develop a group of "flagship" hotels where, it can be confidently claimed, a good Whisky experience can be enjoyed. Promoting them together with distillery visitor centres expands the Whisky Tourism experience.

Expanding the experience

• There are Seventy Three Scotch Whisky Embassy hotels throughout Scotland, from Skye and the islands to Edinburgh.  
• Where Embassies are using their Whisky training they have reported a 10% increase in sales of Scotch Whisky.   175 individuals have passed the Whisky school since the project began.
• Embassies account for 3,805 rooms and over £46.9 Million worth of turnover to the Scottish economy[5].
• Scotch Whisky distilleries welcome over one million tourists a year[6].
• Scotch Whisky accounts for 23% of all Scotland's five-star attractions[7]
• Distillery visitor centres are the most valuable attractions to Scotland, with the highest spend per head (£18.70 per person)[8]. They also attract the greatest percentage of the high spending overseas market[9]
• Sales from Scotch Whisky attractions are worth circa £22.4 Million pounds to the Scottish Economy[10].
• The economic impact of the 'Spirit of Speyside' Whisky festival on rural Scotland equated to £600,000 in 2007 up 8% from 2006.  Its 200 events attracted over 16,000 people.[11]
• The network is now expanding into restaurants, bars and golf resorts.

www.scotlandWhisky.com

Working in partnership with VisitScotland.com the project developed www.scotlandWhisky.com.   The site brought together the Embassy hotels with distillery visitor centres to create a central point for consumers seeking Whisky Tourism details.  Using the technological support and call centre of VisitScotland.com, the site also allows tourists to book Embassies on-line and offers "Whisky tour packages" for sale.

Whisky on the web

• Since its launch www.scotlandWhisky.com has received over 200,000 visitors each spending on average 5 minutes browsing the site.

Product Development

Encouraging collaboration between businesses and developing tourism products, themed around Whisky, is a central focus of ScotlandWhisky. Recent achievements in this area include:

           The Whisky Coast

ScotlandWhisky was instrumental in encouraging sixteen distilleries along the west coast of Scotland to join forces and create a regional marketing company.  The company was launched in March 2007 (www.Whiskycoast.co.uk)

 

The First Highland Whisky Festival

In June 2007 the project brought together Glenmorangie, Balblair, Dalmore and Glen Ord distilleries for the first Highland Whisky Festival.  Though small in the first year, the group hope to emulate the success of both the Speyside and Islay festivals. (www.highlandwhiskyfest.com)

         Whisky and Golf

Working with Famous Grouse, Dewar's, Blair Athol and Tullibardine distilleries, ScotlandWhisky has combined two of Scotland?s leading icons in the production of Golf passes that offer discounted tours to distilleries.  The Perthshire and Highland golf passes were launched for the 2007 summer season.

 

Whisky Tours

Collaborating with tour operators ScotlandWhisky has encouraged a number to sell Whisky themed tours based around Embassy hotels and distillery visits.  In the last year the project has worked with JAC travel, Rabbies trail burners, Mackinlaykidd and Scottish-routes.

[2] Consumer research conducted in the UK and Ireland by Market Research Partners in 2005 - 30% of all respondents named Whisky when asked to name a product of Scotland.

[3] The Henley Centre study was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise and identified "connoisseurship and the hunt for authenticity" as a key leisure trend.