West Coast Today: Diageo breaks 1 million visitors across tourist experiences in Scotland

Oban distillery welcomed more than 157,000 visitors in 2023, contributing to global drinks manufacturer Diageo breaking 1 million visitors across its 13 tourist experiences in Scotland.

The results announced during Scottish Tourism Month follow a significant investment of £185m in Scotch whisky tourism to transform brand homes and deliver its flagship Johnnie Walker Princes Street experience.

Diageo’s regional brand home manager Cara Baillie said: “Scotch whisky tourism creates opportunities all across Scotland; from our capital city to the communities of the Highlands and islands where many of our distilleries are located.

“We are incredibly pleased to have increased visitor footfall across our portfolio of brand homes and are proud to play our part in increasing tourism opportunities across the regions in which we operate.”

CEO of Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) Marc Crothall said these figures are even more proof that Scotch whisky "is making a fantastic contribution to both driving visitor demand and growing Scotland’s visitor economy across the length and breadth of the country".

Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Princes Street has received several national and international accolades as a leading tourism destination, the Edinburgh brand home was also named as the Icons of Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year, and won the coveted global Themed Entertainment Association (THEA) Award for Outstanding Achievement.

And just last week The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery, located in Muir of Ord, was named Scotland’s Leading Distillery Tour 2024 at the World Travel Awards (WTA).

All Diageo brand homes hold the Green Tourism Gold Award – the highest sustainability accolade for a visitor attraction.

According to the most recent Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) figures for the industry more than 2 million people visited Scotch whisky visitor experiences in 2022.