Feedback on Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

[Speyside]

Hi all,

Hope you've had a great time at this year's Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival. I certainly enjoyed it!

As I'm working on improving the Tourism offering in Speyside/Moray I'm curious to hear your feedback.

What did you like?
What could be improved?
What would you like to see for next year?
Did you found it easy to book events/accommodation?

Anything that can help us doing it even better would be much appreciated.

Hope you can help.

Kind regards,

Rene
http://www.GreaterSpeyside.com

[BruceCrichton]

One minor thing.

Someone said posted on website that the dregs party was in the museum. No one was foxed by it but it was a bit annoying.

I'm off to write my report now.

See you later.

[Deactivated Member]

Rene - it's probably outwith your control, but buses between Elgin and Dufftown on Sunday evenings would help - the public transport shut down and left no option but expensive taxis.

I'm a bit sceptical about the 10 day festival idea - it's nice to be there for the duration but I think more than 5 days of festival would be too much for anyone.

And one last thing - it would be helpful to have all the events put up on the website in one go to help with planning.

But keep doing the many things you are doing well, and the Festival will continue from success to success.

[BruceCrichton]

Rene - it's probably outwith your control, but buses between Elgin and Dufftown on Sunday evenings would help - the public transport shut down and left no option but expensive taxis.

I'm a bit sceptical about the 10 day festival idea - it's nice to be there for the duration but I think more than 5 days of festival would be too much for anyone.

The 10 day idea is truly eye-watering. There is no way that I can manage it, physically, mentally or financially unless the days and the events are very thinly spread out.

[Willie JJ]

I'm a bit sceptical about the 10 day festival idea - it's nice to be there for the duration but I think more than 5 days of festival would be too much for anyone.

Clearly one of the constraints on the festival is the availability of beds in Dufftown and the surrounding area. A longer festival helps both the providers of accomodation and those looking for it as they may be able to access at least one of the festival weekends.

I think its also helpful to those who wish to come for longer as it means that the events are not overlapping so much. Looking at this years programme there were so many events that only a small fraction could be attended by anyone. The festival appears to have the potential to grow, but under the circumstances it can only really go one way; into a longer period.

[Deactivated Member]

[ The festival appears to have the potential to grow, but under the circumstances it can only really go one way; into a longer period.

I know that's the logic, but there is a risk that you slay the goose that lays the golden eggs. There are two festivals a year - the full-on Spirit of Speyside and the smaller Dufftown festival. I've only been to the SoS one, but it has a great attraction that many of the festival goers know one another or that you keep bumping into the same people at different events - but not at every event! This would be lost if people were not able to attend for the full festival - or for a significant portion of it.

Moreover, if the festival becomes a procession of non-overlapping events then you will actually be involving fewer people at any one time. A tour for 16 people that doesn't overlap with anything else fills only 16 beds. To expand to double the length and generate double the revenue, you'd need the same level of intensity of events as you currently have in 4 or 4.5 days, but lasting 9 or 9.5 days. The other alternative - an Islay style festival where one distillery has an open day each day (or occasionally two distilleries) would make for a much different feel and might actually be rather dull.

Also, the fact that you can't go to everything is one of the factors that pulls people back year after year.

[Willie JJ]

Moreover, if the festival becomes a procession of non-overlapping events then you will actually be involving fewer people at any one time.

This is far from what is proposed. The number of days is roughly doubled at ten. This still leaves a huge number of events for each day. Also, I don't accept that lengthening the festival will mean that you don't see people you know. You may just not see them all every year.

To expand to double the length and generate double the revenue, you'd need the same level of intensity of events as you currently have in 4 or 4.5 days, but lasting 9 or 9.5 days.

Its not necessary to double the revenue, additional contribution is sufficient. The problem is that at the moment the revenue is suffering from a capacity constraint. This is clear from the unavailability of beds during the festival. The only ways around this are either to create more beds, or to extend the event to allow more bed/days. The first is neither practical or sensible as that capacity would most likely be idle for the rest of the season and a few nights of SoS will not pay for it. The second is relatively straightforward way of coping with excess demand and generating extra contribution. Should the extended festival not be a success then it can be contracted again.