Tourism Oscar rewards five years of hard work

The team at a Scottish distillery are in high spirits after winning Best Visitor Attraction at the Scottish Thistle Awards – Scotland’s tourism Oscars.

Perthshire-based Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery attracted 38,000 whisky fans through 2017/18, with more visitors than ever opting to enjoy an upgraded tour experience, such as the cask tasting tour. This was the culmination of  five years of growth in its visitor experience business.

This latest Scottish Thistle award win comes fast on the back of three other recent accolades including: Excellence in Tourism and Leisure Award at the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Business Star Awards; Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Scotland 2018 Award; and Best Visitor Attraction in the Thistle Awards regional final for Central East and Tayside.

The team has been working hard at creating one of Scotland’s finest tourism experiences including investments such as a new multi-media app, delivered via iPads, which allows visitors to explore the Dewar’s archive in greater depth.

A visitors to the Dewar’s filling store

Charlotte Brown, UK Brand Homes general manager said: ‘Our entire team is exceptionally honoured to have won this award. We set out not just to represent ourselves, but to be ambassadors for the amazing visitor offering in Perthshire, and for Whisky tourism as a whole.

‘This really is the icing on the cake of a hugely successful year, both in terms of increased footfall and major award wins. Here’s to many more years of working with VisitScotland and other partners to enhance our product and promote our region.’

Other nominees in the category included Summerhall Distillery, Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Centre and the DogWalk Brewery Tour.
Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery offers a variety of enjoyable and informative distillery tours to choose from including: the Aberfeldy Tour (£10.50 per adult); Cask Tasting Tour (£17); Connoisseur Tour (£27); and Blender’s Tour (£99).

Visitors to the Dewar’s Distillery in the stave tunnel with an iPad

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Dewar’s world-renowned crafted Highland Single Malt Aberfeldy has been produced at the Aberfeldy Distillery since 1898 and the visitor experience is located in one of the original buildings.

An extensive refurbishment of the visitor centre was undertaken back in 2014 which saw many of the traditional features of this historical building refurbished. A new dramatic ‘stave tunnel’ installation, made from oak casks, leads visitors from the heritage exhibition to the hosting area.

There is also a feature archive wall, which showcases vintage memorabilia, signs and advertising campaigns from throughout Dewar’s history.
The distillery sShop showcases the full Dewar’s Scotch whisky brand portfolio of multi-award winning premium blends.