AMOUNT AWARDED: £25,000

Event background:

Held each year during the first long weekend in May, Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival creates an opportunity for visitors to enjoy a visit to Speyside before the start of the main tourism season. The Festival invites visitors to celebrate Scotland’s national drink through an inventive and wide-ranging programme of whisky inspired events.

Since its inception, the Festival has developed close links with many Speyside businesses and communities and works together with them to provide an ever improving range of events, facilities and services for local people and the increasing flow of international visitors.

The Festival plays an important part in helping people acquire a deeper knowledge and appreciation of their dram and has introduced whisky to new audiences, including a growing female market.

Reason for EventScotland funding:

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival had grown hugely within its local area and wanted to target visitors from outside Scotland to help grow their audience numbers. EventScotland’s funding would allow them to fund promotional campaigns around the UK.

How the funding was used:

The organisers used the funding on marketing and PR to deliver promotional campaigns in Belfast, Birmingham and Bristol. These regions had been identified as good target areas due to their diverse population mix, strong local media, good rail links and the fact that they all have airports which offer low cost flights into nearby Aberdeen or Inverness.

A similar campaign was carried out in each area with airport advertising, local press advertising and PR campaigns with press events in each city.

Outcome:

The event attracted 17,000 visitors which represented a strong growth on 2007 where audience numbers were at 16,000. This was particularly impressive in the existing climate and when there were fuel shortages the weekend of the festival. This level of growth is also impressive following on from 2007 when the event was expanded as a result of Highland 2007.

Visitors from out with Scotland increased from 23% to 26%. Of that number, 20% came from Bristol airport, 10% from Birmingham and 8% from Belfast.

One year on:

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2009 and, due to the Festival’s growth and the growth of its audiences; it will this year be funded through the International Programme. The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is also being funded by Homecoming Scotland 2009. Whisky is one of the five themes of Homecoming and the event falls during Homecoming’s Whisky Month which will strengthen its position enormously.