Paul Carty, managing director of the multi-award-winning Guinness Storehouse, has said the constant reinvention has been the key to creating a highly successful business model for Ireland’s most popular tourist attraction.
Designed by London-based Imagination in conjunction with Dublin’s RKD, the attraction was created out of a disused grain storage building, which was turned into an iconic hub for both Guinness and Ireland at a cost of €42m (US$45m, £32m). Since opening in 2000, the Storehouse has gone from strength-to-strength, with half of all visitors to Ireland now visiting the attraction annually.
“We reinvest every year,” said Carty, speaking to
Attractions Management. We always try to create a new area so we have a new story to tell. This helps us maintain our position as a must-see attraction for tourists and encourages repeat visitors.”
One of the Storehouse’s major investments was its new third floor, which opened in March 2015 and is dedicated to Guinness advertising. The result of customer feedback, interactive displays bring classic Guinness campaigns to life dating from the modern day all the way back to the 1930s.
Design agency Love introduced several high tech features to the 1,500sq m (16,150sq ft) space, including a playable digital version of the brand’s trademark golden harp and an 8m (26ft) high interactive Instagram wall to allow integration of social media into the space – something key for the Storehouse, which generates more than 350 million media impressions every year.
Arguably the Storehouse’s most important investment came in 2011 when it hired BRC Imagination Arts, who looked at the attraction and rethemed each floor to create a more coherent and interactive visitor journey, rethinking the way the Guinness story was told. The results of BRC’s work was staggering, with a 35 per cent jump in attendance and a 240 per cent increase in net profit.
“In the past five years we’ve invested €10m (US$10.8m, £7.6m),” said Carty. “We see return on investment and from a brand perspective we track and survey things, such as whether guests consume more Guinness after their visit, or whether they feel warmer towards the brand.”
The Storehouse has picked up a number of awards for its role as a visitor attraction, and last year
was named Europe's top tourist destination at the World Travel Awards in Italy. According to recent statistics, 93 per cent of all visitors to the attraction are not from Ireland, with the top five nationalities of those visiting being American, British, French, German and Italian.
For more on the Guinness Storehouse as it celebrates its 15th year, check out the upcoming Q1 2016 edition of Attractions Management, coming soon.
