The Rise of Whiskey Tourism in Ireland: Developing a Terroir Engagement Template

Abstract

The recently launched Irish Whiskey Tourism Strategy proposes that Ireland will become the world leader in whiskey tourism by the year 2030. This target stems from the fact that Irish Whiskey has been recently cited as being the fastest growing subsection of the entire whiskey category globally. Concepts like authenticity, place, story, and indeed terroir are frequently deployed when considering many aspects of contemporary whiskey tourism sites but interpretation and analysis of such nebulous concepts can vary considerably and they can prove very difficult to define. In particular, the concept of terroir has proved quite challenging, not only in terms of definition, but also in terms of how one communicates a sense of terroir to a tourist audience. And yet a clear understanding is very necessary when developing appropriate marketing strategies. This research explores definitions of the terroir concept with a view to providing insights into how contemporary drink tourism sites might successfully engage with visitors through a variety of mediums in an effort to convey that true sense of terroir. It introduces the Fourth Space model, which draws on the long-lived success of the French wine sectors' portrayal of terroir to consumers. It provides a framework to help explore how beverage tourism sites can both analyze and communicate terroir elements to visitors. Using a comparative analysis of two whiskey tourism sites in Dublin, Ireland the study maps their level of terroir engagement across a number of different strands according to the Fourth Space model. The analysis provides initial evidence of the potential benefits of such a model in developing strategies that will be of benefit to whiskey tourism sites; it shows how they can enhance their ability to convey a strong and authentic sense of terroir, thus allowing them to compete in an increasingly competitive beverage tourism market.