Record visitors flock to find ‘the Arran waters’
The award-winning Isle of Arran Distillery visitor centre at Lochranza welcomed a record number of visitors last year. A total of 104,000 people made the journey to find ‘the Arran waters’ in 2016 – a 93 per cent increase since 2012, and 18 per cent increase on 2015.
Distillery managing director Euan Mitchell said: ‘The visitor centre has always been core to the distillery. As the first distillery in over 150 years to operate on an island once scattered with illegal stills, we understand and celebrate our place in Arran’s whisky making history.
‘These visitor numbers are a reflection of our success in translating this heritage into a world-class visitor experience.’
Currently the highest-rated attraction on the island on Trip Advisor, Lochranza recently reopened after the completion of £1 million worth of renovations to both the visitor centre and distillery.
The distillery has double the number of pot stills from two to four and they are now in full production, doubling capacity at the distillery, and in the visitor centre there has been a complete re-design of the reception area and Casks café with a modern water feature to replace the original waterfall and a new interactive wall display.
The old spirit safe, which was removed during the upgrade of distillery equipment, will be exhibited in the main entrance.
A new tasting bar can also accommodate larger groups of visitors and provides extra space for the increasingly popular tours.
The distillery is also making a £100 million investment in the south of the island with a new distillery site and visitor centre at Lagg presently under construction.
Focusing on peated single malts, the Lagg centre will overlook the southern fields and cliffs of the island offering a striking contrast to Lochranza in the mountainous north.
Visitors to Lagg are expected to exceed 62,400 in the first full year – 60 per cent of visitors to Lochranza in 2016 – rising by 10 per cent per year to 75,504 by 2020. It is projected that by 2020 the number of visitors to both sites will surpass 200,000, resulting in a combined turnover in excess of £2 million.
Euan continued: ‘With the new distillery at Lagg, and continued investment at Lochranza, we intend to uphold the rich heritage of whisky making on Arran and look forward to welcoming many more visitors to the island to experience it for themselves.’