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A prime tourist attraction in Dublin, recently crowned the world’s most productive tourism experience, hopes this global accolade, subsidised through David Beckham, can propel it to new heights in 2024.
The Guinness Storehouse, which won first prize at the World Travel Awards in December, is expected to welcome more than 1. 4 million people this year.
Perhaps the most prominent were David Beckham and his son Cruz, who visited in February and shared their experience with their millions of Instagram followers.
Storehouse managing director Catherine Toolan said winning the world’s leading tourist attraction accolade was an achievement two decades in the making.
“The Guinness Storehouse has been in this location and open as a visitor experience and a brand experience for 23 years now and throughout that 23 years we continued to invest in creating a world-class experience,” she said.
“The World Travel Awards are really the Oscars of the industry. It’s an award that lasts 30 years.
“We won the Best European Experience award in 2015 and the World Travel Award for Best Beer Tour Experience.
“But this year was the pinnacle of winning the world’s greatest experience, competing at venues like the Taj Mahal, the Ferrari Experience (in Abu Dhabi), the Great Wall of China and the Walt Disney Resort in Florida.
“I’m very proud of the team. This is glowing praise for us. And it’s also a glowing compliment to the city and to tourism in Ireland.
David and Cruz Beckham arrive five months after American basketball star Steph Curry also ran the Storehouse, located on the grounds of Dublin’s famous Guinness St James’s Gate brewery.
In previous years, Tom Cruise and the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, had come.
Toolan said the exposure generated through the high profile tangibly increases engagement and interest in Storehouse online.
Referring to the Beckhams’ Instagram posts, she added: “When they post something like that to their followers, we do see, you know, a lot more engagement and indeed we would have a lot of visitors asking us or coming in and saying ‘Where did David Beckham pull his pint?’”
The center has also recently expanded its offering to host music events, with performances by Kelis, Bicep, Annie Mac and Dermot Kennedy, among others.
Working with Ireland’s Autism Charity, AsIAm, the Storehouse also secured official accreditation in 2023 as an autism and neuro-divergent friendly venue.
The first Wednesday of the month now hosts days committed to the sensory experience.
The initiative aligns with the site’s broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
“Some of the initiatives that we have in place from that perspective are that we have now 100% renewable energy in the building, we have a zero to landfill (policy), and we’re working with Diageo and indeed all our partners to become net carbon neutral by 2030, which is a really lofty goal, but one we’re really focused on,” added Ms Toolan.
Looking ahead to 2024, the Storehouse boss paid tribute to the team of six hundred people and senior partners who keep the charm running.
“It takes an entire village to deliver an experience with a logo like this, from the team that runs our warehouse, to the team that runs our retail store, to the team that welcomes visitors every day,” he said.
“I feel very privileged to have with us such wonderful people who make a difference. And every day they book this “cead mile failte” (one hundred thousand welcomes) and this warm welcome to our visitors.
“So winning awards is really special, but being able to come into a building and being the custodian of the 264-year, almost 265-year, Guinness history and working with the team that I work with every day, it’s just such a privilege.”
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