This year, Guinness Storehouse is expected to welcome over 1.4 million visitors, having won the top accolade at the World Travel Awards earlier in December.

Among them, David Beckham and his son Cruz were arguably the most well-known. They visited in February and shared the experience with their tens of millions of Instagram followers.

Winning the title of world's top tourist attraction, according to Storehouse managing director Catherine Toolan, was a feat that took twenty years to attain.

"We have invested in creating a world-class experience for the 23 years that the Guinness Storehouse has been here, open as a visitor experience and a brand experience," she stated.

"In actuality, the World Travel Awards are the Oscars of the travel sector. This prize has been given out for thirty years.

In addition to winning the World Travel Award for the best beer tour experience, we were named Europe's Leading Experience in 2015.

The Great Wall of China, the Ferrari experience in Abu Dhabi, the Taj Mahal, and the Walt Disney resort in Florida were among the top tour experiences in the world, but this year's victory was the apex.

I'm really happy with the group. We think this is an amazing prize. Additionally, the city and Irish tourism benefit greatly from this wonderful accolade.

Five months before to David and Cruz Beckham's visit, US basketball player Steph Curry also had a tour of the Storehouse, located in Dublin on the site of Guinness's renowned St. James's Gate brewery.


Tom Cruise and William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, have also been guests in the past.

According to Ms. Toolan, the visibility that prominent visitors provide for the Storehouse online visibly increases interest and engagement.

"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?'" she continued, referring to the Beckhams' Instagram pictures.

In addition, the centre now offers live music events, featuring performances by artists like Dermot Kennedy, Bicep, Annie Mac, and Kelis.

The Storehouse also obtained official recognition in 2023 as an autism and neuro-divergent friendly venue by collaborating with AsIAm, Ireland's autism charity.

It currently provides sensory-friendly experience days on the first Wednesday of each month.

The programme complements the venue's broader corporate governance, social, and environmental (ESG) objectives.

"From that standpoint, some of the initiatives that we have in place are that we have a zero to landfill policy, we have 100% renewable energy in the building, and we're working with Diageo and really all of our partners to become net carbon neutral by 2030, which is a really lofty goal, but one we're really focused on," Ms Toolan continued.

The executive director of Storehouse expressed gratitude to the 600-person core staff and partners who support the operation of the attraction as they look forward to 2024.

"From the team that runs our warehouse and retail store to the team that greets guests every day, it takes a village to run a brand experience like this," the speaker remarked.

"Having such incredible people in my life is such a blessing, and they truly make a difference." And they extend a hearty "cead mile failte" (a hundred thousand welcomes) to our guests on a daily basis.

"Winning awards is truly special, but what's even more special is being able to walk into a building, work with my daily team and be the custodian of the 264-year, almost 265-year Guinness history."