Demand for Irish whiskey soared by almost 28% in the United States on the run up to St Patrick’s day, according to a statement issued by the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA) today (21 March) based on figures published by Nielsen CGA.
According to the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), Irish whiskey is experiencing phenomenal growth in the US - 'in 2002, 5.2 million bottles of Irish whiskey were sold in the US. Last year that figure reached a record 45.6 million bottles'.
Miriam Mooney, head of the Irish Whiskey Association said, "Over the last 14 years, Irish whiskey sales increased by 776% making it America’s the fastest growing spirit.”
“The US is Irish whiskey’s biggest export market and is expected to play an important role in Ireland reaching its export and tourism targets in the future. Already one in four visitors to Irish distilleries are from the US and as sales continue to grow abroad so too will the number of US tourists travelling to Ireland to visit the home of their favourite drink." Mooney added.
The IWA also highlighted that it expects 1.9 million visitors to visit Irish distilleries by 2025, spending an estimated €1.3 billion during their stay in Ireland.
She explained, "US visitors are anticipated to account for a large proportion of this as they continue to be the world’s biggest fans of Irish whiskey."
Reportedly, whiskey tourism can also support jobs in Ireland.
"Irish whiskey tourism can bring massive benefits to towns across Ireland and has the potential to support one tourism job for every 55 international visitors it helps to attract to Ireland.” Said Mooney
© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern
