Scotch experience plans £3m upgrade
Edinburgh-based The Scotch Whisky Experience has begun a £3 million (US$3.6m) upgrade of its visitor attraction.
Located at the top of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, The Scotch Whisky Experience is working on enhancing its experience to reflect the ‘premium nature of Scotch whisky’.
The new tour experience will include technology not yet seen at a visitor experience in the UK.
Susan Morrison, chief executive of the experience, said: “We’ll be creating a theatrical and magical experience to tell the story of Scotch whisky production, blended with technologies which we believe have never before been used in a visitor experience.
“Our team have been nurturing this vision since well before the pandemic, and excitement is building. We can’t tell you more yet, but we promise that what we have in store will be breathtaking and truly unique.”
The Scotch Whisky Experience first opened to the public in 1988, after 19 individual Scotch whisky companies jointly invested in showcasing the industry to international visitors.
The tourist attraction welcomes more than 8.5m visitors from around the globe. The site also includes the Amber Restaurant and Whisky Bar, which can accommodate corporate events and private dinners.
Work commenced in early January and is due to be completed by summer 2023. Any disruptive work will be undertaken outside opening hours and will not affect tour experiences, the restaurant or private events.
According to data from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), the Scotch sector represents £5.5 billion (US$6.7bn) in gross value added (GVA) to the economy with 11,000 people directly employed in the country.
In 2021, Scotch accounted for 22% of all UK food and drink exports.
In 2018, Diageo announced a £185m (US$255m) investment in whisky tourism, which included an extensive upgrade of its visitor centres, as well as a new 71,500-square-foot Johnnie Walker experience in Edinburgh.
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