Yaroshok Lada Certificate in Hotel and Tourism Management Operations HTMi Switzerland
Introduction
Scotland is a famous destination for a lot of tourists from all over the world. It attracts people with its culture, history and traditions. According to Visit Scotland (2013), there are a big percentage of people (48%), who have visited historic houses, stately homes and castles. Trying local food and beverages is a key aspect of experiencing Scotland and a key activity amongst many tourists (50 %). About 20% of people have chosen to visit a whisky distillery as their top activity (Visit Scotland, 2013). That means, that Whisky plays an important role in developing of tourism in Scotland. The following paper is trying to find out, how much Whisky affects the tourism industry in Scotland, who belongs to the target market and what is the motivation for tourists to visit Scotch Whisky Trails.
Whisky regions
The Scotch Whisky Association identifies 5 regions of Whisky: Highland, Speyside, Islay, Lowland and Cambeltown (Scotch Whisky Association, 2013). Every Whisky has its own special taste, depending on the region where it has been made and the factors, such as the place where water has been obtained or the different forms of the copper stills were used. Distillery trails are an essential experience for visitors, because it helps to explain them a lot of complexities of Scotch Whiskies (Visit Scotland, 2013).
Nationalities
According to 4-Consulting (2013), the most rapid increasing target market for Scotland is China. Research shows, that tourists from China often bought products that had a connection to Scotland. Scotland's largest tourism market is the United States. It was shown through a survey, that when American's had to think of Products, famous people, brands or even events from Scotland, they first associated Scotch Whisky (31%) with Scotland, leaving the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in second place with 17%. (4-Consulting, 2013) Through research Campbell Evans (Scotland Whisky Association Director of Government and Consumer Affairs) has found out, that countries which are big export markets for Scotland often spend more on tourism in Scotland. Meanwhile, many countries, where the amount of visitors traveling to Scotland has grown, also tend to pay more for a bottle of Scotch whisky. (ScotlandWhisky, 2011). Hamilton (2011) mentioned, that Laphroaig (a distillery visitor centre) alone had visitors from more than 61 different countries within the time interval of June 2010 to May 2011 including countries like the U.S., Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.
To get the most out of the connection between Scotch whisky and tourism, state authority and other hospitality organizations in 2003 established Scotch Whisky Embassy. Taking 90 hotels, golf courses, bars and restaurants in consideration, which meet certain expectation, the contribution of this network to the economy of Scotland was 43.2 millions and Scotch Whisky Embassy has offered 1,400 work places (Scotch Whisky Association, 2011).
Conclusion
As a conclusion we can say, that Whisky Tourism plays an important role in tourism of Scotland. It attracts people from all around the world, including local people, and helps the economy of this country to grow. We can also add, that Spirit of Speyside Festival promotes this kind of tourism very well. The visitors are motivated to make such tours, because they explain the process of making whisky. It is also considered a prestigious kind of tourism and for many people it is the main motivation.
References
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Frazer, M., Chamberlain, V., MacLardie, J. and Treanor, S. (2011) Scotlands International Strategy: Research To Support Scotlands Strategy For Stronger Engagement With Germany. Edinburgh: Crown Publishers.
Hamilton D. (2011) Glasses raised as whisky tourism brings in 27m. Available from: http://www.heraldscotland.com [Accessed 30 November 2013].
Martinolli, M. and Bereziat, C. (2010) The 2009 Visitor Attraction Monitor. Glasgow: VisitScotland.
Scotch Whisky Association (2011) Scotch Whisky Tourism Gives Massive Boost to Economy. Edinburgh: Scotch Whisky Association.
Scotch Whisky Association (2013) Whisky Regions & Tours. Available from: http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/ [Accessed 30 November 2013].
Scotland.com (2011) The Whisky Trail. Available at: http://www.scotland.org/ [Accessed 1 December 2013].
Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (2013) 2013 Festival Biggest and Best Yet! Available from: http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/news.php?id=133 [Accessed 30 November 2013].
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