Research by VisitScotland has revealed growing visitor demand for Scotland’s food and drink experiences, including visiting breweries.
Almost half of visitors (46%) took part in at least one food and drink activity (in addition to eating out) during their trip last year, with nearly a fifth (19%) of long-haul visitors now naming food and drink as the reason for choosing Scotland as a destination.
Experiencing locally produced food and drink was important to all visitors, especially those from the USA (51%) who make up Scotland’s largest international visitor market.
According to the Visit Scotland Visitor Survey 2023, data shows that visiting a whisky, gin distillery or brewery (26 percent) was the most popular type of food and drink activity for visitors to Scotland in 2023, followed by farm shop or farmers market (22 percent), fine dining (14 percent) or other experience such as a cookery class or afternoon tea (9 percent).
Digging deeper into the stats, they show that six percent of all visitors visited a brewery on their trip in 2023 (as compared to five percent to visit a gin distillery and 21 percent to visit whisky distillery).
And it’s not just overseas visitors, four percent of Scots were brewery visitors followed by five percent from the UK. 15 percent were long haul visitors -(USA 17 percent, Canada 12 percent and Australasia 11 percent).
European visitors made up six percent of visitors (Germany: three percent, France: 12 percent, Netherlands: six percent and Spain/Italy: six percent).
After UK users, US users are the international audience who next most frequently view the Scottish Craft Beers and Breweries page on visitscotland.com, followed by Germany.
Jacqui Souter, Senior marketing insight manager at VisitScotland, explained why people are keen to visit breweries: "Our research shows that food and drink play an important role in visitors' experiences, offering a chance to connect with local culture and people.
"We’ve found that long-haul visitors are particularly keen to visit breweries, where they can learn how beer is made and sample the variety of Scottish ales, craft beer and lagers on offer.
"Scotland's breweries are spread across rural, urban, and island areas, giving visitors a taste of our amazing food and drink scene, while creating unique memories that enhance their trip."
Aidy Fenwick, head of marketing at Fyne Ales agrees that the location plays a part, saying: “We are a family-owned Scottish farm brewery, located down a narrow lane at the head of Loch Fyne, nestled between a lazy river and peat-rich hills - you won't find a more picturesque location for a pint.
“One of the wonderful things about being slightly off the beaten track is that many of our visitors are dedicated beer fans, from all over the world, and their infectious enthusiasm parallels our own.
“In particular we are joined by a lot of beer loving tourists from the US and Germany. The US has played a huge part in shaping the craft beer industry, and Germany has a long rich brewing history - so it's lovely to know we are on their radar and have received wonderful feedback on our beers.
“The taproom is open seven days a week, and we offer short brewery tours on the weekend, as well as guided tastings, and it's just a lovely place to stop and have a wander around the property. If you're lucky you'll even see our highland cows and deer on your way.”
Scotland is home to more than 120 breweries, including: Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar, which runs tours and is the oldest working brewery in Scotland, established in 1719; Traquair House Brewery in Innerleithen also dates back to the early 1700s and does tours and ale tastings.
Newer breweries include Uile-bheist, a new low-carbon craft brewery in Inverness.
Then there’s award-winning breweries such as Bellfield Brewery in Edinburgh - a great example of a city centre brewery, brewing gluten-free beers and winner of Scottish Brewery of the Year 2023.
