Visit Scotland | Alba
Article published 24/10/2024

A positive influence on Scottish tourism

This week (21 October), Johnnie Walker Princes Street announced reaching a milestone moment at the venue, cited as the "World's leading spirit tourism experience" by the World Travel Awards 2023.

The venue has now welcomed over one million visitors from 141 countries just three years since opening its doors. Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray was on site to congratulate the the team as they celebrated the milestone. 

Johnnie Walker Princes Street serves as a key destination within Scotland's vibrant food and drink landscape, attracting visitors eager to immerse themselves in local culture. According to the Scotland Visitor Survey 2023, nearly half (46%) of visitors to the country engage in food and drink activities during their stay, with 26% visiting a whisky, gin distillery or brewery, and 21% visiting a whisky distillery.

Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray (centre) with the team from Johnnie Walker Princes Street. Credit: Mike Wilkinson 

A journey of flavour

The venue leverages AI powered personalisation technology to help guests discover their personal flavour profile, which is then used to tailor their experience on Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s signature “Journey of Flavour”. To date, the experience has collected the flavour profiles of over 100,000 guests.

The experience seeks to inspire visitors to explore the wider world of Scotch Whisky as it relates to their own personal tastes, breaking down barriers including those around how the drink should be enjoyed by focusing on cocktail culture, serving almost 700,000 highballs and cocktails alone since opening.

The venue’s formula has proved a successful one, with Johnnie Walker Princes Street garnering an impressive “Net Promoter Score”, a trusted metric for measuring customer experience, of 85 and 91% of visitors’ perception of Johnnie Walker improving post visit using “brand conversion” tracking. A nearly 50/50 male and female gender split is a particular point of pride for the venue.

Visit the Johnnie Walker website to learn more about the experience

 

The Johnnie Walker Princes Street team celebrating. Credit: Mike Wilkinson

This is an amazing achievement by Johnnie Walker Princes Street. It is a testament to the investment and confidence of Diageo in creating a luxury visitor experience in the centre of the city, and the staff, whose work has maintained its popularity.

Scotch whisky is a unique part of our cultural heritage and as such is hugely important to what makes Scotland a must-visit destination. Our own research shows that a quarter of all visitors to Scotland take in a whisky, gin or brewery experience.

Since opening in 2021, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has become an essential attraction while complementing the burgeoning food and drink experiences across the city. Its popularity will no doubt have helped support the successful post-pandemic recovery of international tourism.

Vicki Miller, CEO, VisitScotland

Johnnie Walker Princes Street was launched to recruit consumers from around the World to Johnnie Walker and indeed the entire Scotch Whisky category.

We wanted to disrupt consumer perceptions of Whisky through offering a pioneering experience which demonstrated the huge breadth of flavours with the category, the incredible history of Johnnie Walker and champion the people and communities which have helped make the brand a global icon.

We could not be prouder of the venue’s hugely dedicated team who have made such an impact on so many guests in just three short years. We’d like to thank our colleagues in the Scotch Whisky Association and VisitScotland for their continued support as we work together to showcase Scotch, and Scotland, to the world. Most excitingly we feel like we’re just getting started and there is plenty more growth to come as we Keep Walking.

Dafydd Pugh Williams, Managing Director of Diageo’s Scotland Brand Homes

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