Sixteen of the world’s best known whisky brand names have joined together to form a new company called The Whisky Coast.

The Whisky Coast - an incorporated company limited by guarantee - aims to raise the profile of the West Coast of Scotland as an area with a high concentration of distilleries against the backdrop of a dramatic rugged coastline. The distilleries have united with three tour companies, eighteen hotels, restaurants, golf courses and attractions and have secured substantial funding support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and VisitScotland.

The campaign to attract more visitors to The Whisky Coast and to encourage them to stay longer and spend more includes a thirty page brochure showing the dram[a] of the area and a new website www.whiskycoast.co.uk . A UK consumer public relations campaign is also underway.

The Whisky Coast area stretches from Campbeltown in the south to Skye and to Fort William. Laphroaig, Talisker, Arran, Jura, Bowmore, and Springbank are some of the distilleries behind the initiative along with Turnberry resort, Kinloch Lodge, Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, The Three Chimneys and Machrihanish golf course.

Whisky plays a crucial role in Scottish tourism, as Chris Conway from ScotlandWhisky, one of the founding directors of the company comments: “Over 1 million tourists visit a distillery in Scotland every year according to the Scotch Whisky Association and distillery visitor centres generate £17.3 million pounds in economic benefit from ticket and gift sales. Whisky is a fantastic icon for Scotland and internationally recognised; being able to tap into its global reach is an amazingly powerful marketing tool for the west coast of Scotland. Its single malts are known throughout the world, and now its tourism experience should be celebrated in the same way.”

Mark Reynier, chairman of The Whisky Coast and managing director of Bruichladdich Distillery on the Isle of Islay says, “The Whisky Coast is an excellent example of the private and public sector working together for the benefit of the whole area. The Whisky Coast is a project designed to benefit the whole economy. It’s about much more than trying to encourage people to visit one or more distilleries. We’re encouraging them to explore further and see more of this dramatic, wild indented coast, to stay longer and spend more. Whisky may be the most tangible element of the initiative, but it’s the misty harbours and moonlit mountains which add the drama and live on in memories.”

Basking against the dramatic Islay scenery an angelic image marks the launch of The Whisky Coast, representative of the angel’s share. In whisky terminology the angel’s share is a term used to describe the percentage of whisky which evaporates each year through the wood when stored in the cask during the ageing process. Every year up to 2% of all Scotch whisky that is being matured is lost to evaporation. While factors such as temperature and the quality of the cask can affect the percentage of whisky which is dispersed, generally the older the whisky, the more alcohol is lost. For example, a 20 year old cask of whisky may have lost 40% of its original volume by the time it is bottled.

Strategic partnerships have been forged with tour companies making it easier to visit The Whisky Coast. Rabbie’s Trail Burners will offer group tours; Scotsell has devised a self drive tour; and Perry Golf is launching golf and whisky breaks. Independent travellers will find a wealth of travel information at www.whiskycoast.co.uk

VisitScotland’s head of business propositions Yvonne Cook comments: “VisitScotland is delighted to see a wide range of businesses working in partnership in support of The Whisky Coast. This was recognised with a VisitScotland Challenge Fund award of over £24,000 for collaborative marketing.

“The Whisky Coast will make it easier for visitors to experience the world class whisky product on Scotland’s west coast as well as encouraging them to stay longer and explore the best that the area has to offer. This type of partnership initiative will help the tourism industry achieve its 50% growth ambition by 2015.”

Ken Abernethy, area director of HIE Argyll and the Islands comments, "This is an exciting project for the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network that sees whisky production and tourism coming together in a collaborative way that will bring new high spending markets to some of the more remote areas in the west Highlands and Islands. The project has been supported in its development phase by HIE Argyll and the Islands through assessing the market and producing the business plan.”

“We believe this to be an excellent example of new product development within the tourism sector and one that will offer an authentic tourism experience that can be marketed internationally, in turn making our tourism businesses more competitive.”

“We hope that this will provide an opportunity to highlight the diversity of the tourism product in the West Highlands and Islands and through the project we hope to see further collaboration develop between other service providers and attractions.”

For more information regarding The Whisky Coast visit www.whiskycoast.co.uk