Friday, 23rd November, 2007
Tourism and Whisky gang thegither (but for how much longer?) - 23rd November, 2007
My eye was caught by two articles in the last few days.
On the one hand, our local government economic development agency here is Scotland is running workshops promoting the tourism potential of whisky.
On the other hand, the Scottish Government is seriously thinking about banning alcohol advertising with the Justice Minister accepting that there will be ‘collateral damage’ from the move.
Apart from the difficulty of such a ban (do you impound copies of Whisky Magazine at the border to prevent them being read by impressionable Scots?), research consistently shows the strength of whisky as part of the Scottish brand. Will courses such as that included in the first link fall victim to the new regulations? Will we be able to serve whisky but not not tell anyone how good it is?
As the second article shows, flagship events such as the T in the Park music festival also stand to face more difficult times under the proposed ban.
I would be fascinated in learning from any of our readers whether they have similar difficulties in their countries (eg state vs state) and how these areas have managed with this?
