Ireland’s Brewery and Distillery visitor centres are now attracting millions of tourists every year, the latest figures from Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) shows.
The report showed that there were 2,590,215 visitors to the brewery and distillery tourist attractions in Ireland in 2017, up from 2,437,206 in 2016, which is an increase of 153,009 visitors or 6%.
These figures indicate that the growing number of distilleries and breweries opening around the country is benefiting Ireland’s tourism offering.
ABFI said that it expects this figure to increase again in 2018. Brewery and Distillery visitor centres have reported a strong summer to date for 2018.
“In Ireland there has been an influx of new players to the drinks market over the past few years, increasing innovation and diversity in the sector," said Patricia Callan, Director of Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) highlighted.
“What’s really positive about these brewery and distillery visitor centres is that they are located right across the country, so they support the regional spread of tourism. It’s also promising to see that there are so many new visitor centres in the planning or development stage, indicating a strong future for the sector.”
Reportedly, there is also a number of planned new visitor centres set to open in 2018 and beyond.
For example, there are 13 whiskey distillery visitor centres in the planning or development stage at the moment the ABFI said.
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