The Scottish Whisky industry is recognised the world over for its high quality and, according to VisitBritain, whisky is the top food and drink item associated with the UK in France, Germany, China and Japan.<\/p>
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A recent survey by the Scotch Whisky Association, suggests that 2018 saw a record of more than 2m visitors to distilleries, an increase of more than 50% since 2010. This survey also shows that in 2018 visitor spending increased by more than 12% on 2017\u2019s figures to over £68m.<\/p>
<\/p>
VisitBritain(VB) work to promote the UK as a tourist destination, and have used Scotch whisky to promote Scotland in particular. VB regularly host educational trips which include distilleries across Scotland, host several distilleries at their flagship promotional event ExploreGB and offer Whisky tours through the VB online shop. In addition to this, VB work in partnership with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Trade to create food and drink hubs across the UK which encourage visitors to try our produce and commission research into food and drink as a draw for tourists.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4522", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rebecca Pow"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Taunton Deane"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Rebecca Pow"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "277770"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-30T10:41:10.693Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Tourism"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the value of tourism to Scotch whisky distilleries to the UK economy.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4432", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Patrick Grady"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Glasgow North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Patrick Grady"} ], "uin" : "277769"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139260", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139260/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Scottish Whisky industry is recognised the world over for its high quality and, according to VisitBritain, whisky is the top food and drink item associated with the UK in France, Germany, China and Japan.<\/p>
<\/p>
A recent survey by the Scotch Whisky Association, suggests that 2018 saw a record of more than 2m visitors to distilleries, an increase of more than 50% since 2010. This survey also shows that in 2018 visitor spending increased by more than 12% on 2017\u2019s figures to over £68m.<\/p>
<\/p>
VisitBritain(VB) work to promote the UK as a tourist destination, and have used Scotch whisky to promote Scotland in particular. VB regularly host educational trips which include distilleries across Scotland, host several distilleries at their flagship promotional event ExploreGB and offer Whisky tours through the VB online shop. In addition to this, VB work in partnership with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Trade to create food and drink hubs across the UK which encourage visitors to try our produce and commission research into food and drink as a draw for tourists.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4522", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rebecca Pow"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Taunton Deane"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Rebecca Pow"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "277769"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-30T10:41:10.86Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Tourism"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution to UK tourism of the Scotch whisky industry\u2019s investment in distilleries and visitor centres.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4432", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Patrick Grady"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Glasgow North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Patrick Grady"} ], "uin" : "277770"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139261", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for International Trade"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139261/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Scotch Whisky continues to be a major contributor towards the UK\u2019s overall exports, representing 21.4% of total exports of UK food and drink.<\/p>
<\/p>
Ministers and officials from this department hold regular discussions with the Scotch Whisky Association and other representatives from the industry with the aim of further increasing whisky exports and to help them to take advantage of a wide range of overseas opportunities. The Department is working to address tariff and non-tariff barriers facing the sector through our planned future trade agreements and other dialogues with partner countries. The current Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association is an adviser to the Board of Trade.<\/p>
<\/p>
Scotch is the largest export within the food and drink sector with over £4.8bn in sales in 2018, a rise of 7.7% compared to 2017.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1482", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Graham Stuart"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Beverley and Holderness"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Graham Stuart"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "277772"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-22T15:48:56.393Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "202"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Whisky: Scotland"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the role of Scotch whisky as an export product in increasing UK access to high-value overseas markets.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4432", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Patrick Grady"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Glasgow North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Patrick Grady"} ], "uin" : "277771"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1138954", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1138954/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "