Scotch tours worth £25m

Tourists spent 12.2% more visiting Scotch whisky distilleries in 2008 than they did the year before.

Tourists spent 12.2% more visiting Scotch whisky distilleries in 2008 than they did the year before.

Distillery tours boosted the Scottish economy by £25 million, according to Scotland Whisky, the whisky tourism organisation.

The figure includes ticket sales and money spent in shops and cafés.

Visitor figures were more or less flat at just over 1.2 million.

Scotland Whisky's Chris Conway said: "Visiting a distillery remains one of the must-do activities for tourists in Scotland.

"The number of visitors has held out strongly in what are difficult conditions, and the impressive spend figure reflects the investment that distillers have made in their visitor centres over the last few years.

"There is a real thirst for knowledge, with enthusiasts and novices alike wanting to learn as much as possible about the making of Scotch."