Jobs and economy boost as food and drink walking tours firm Taste & Tour plates up Scottish debut with move into Edinburgh

Taste & Tour, which was established in 2016 by Belfast entrepreneurs Phil Ervine and Caroline Wilson, is via its new move initially offering public tours in the Scottish capital and corporate experiences across the Central Belt. In Edinburgh it has so far teamed up with more than 20 hospitality venues and retailers, with a projected spend of £120,000 a year in such firms. The expansion into the city is also creating three jobs, and this is projected to grow to six by 2025.

Ervine said: “Following huge successes with Taste & Tour in Belfast, it made perfect sense to expand our unique offering to Scotland. We’ve spent the past few months meeting some amazing food-producers, chefs, restauranteurs, and bar-owners in Edinburgh, and their passion for food and drink is inspiring. We are extremely proud to launch in Scotland.”

Fellow co-founder Wilson said: “The people of Edinburgh have been incredibly encouraging and welcoming, and we can’t wait to build our relationships further with the amazing producers and people of the city.”

Cameron Ritchie, Taste & Tour Edinburgh director, said: “We want to show visitors, locals and corporate guests a great time, wonderful food and drink, and give them an experience they won’t forget in my hometown.”

Taste & Tour Edinburgh has launched with the three-hour Edinburgh Old Town Food Tour, and with the Edinburgh Gin Jaunt launching at the end of March and Crafty Beer & Tasty Bites tour debuting in the coming months. The operation also offers bespoke experiences.

The news comes after it was in March revealed that Scotland’s visitor attractions enjoyed a 21 per cent increase in visits last year to just under 12 million as many sites got back to pre-pandemic levels. The latest annual Association of Leading Visitor Attractions members' visitor figures showed that Scotland also had six of the 30 most visited attractions in the UK, with the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh remaining the nation's most popular attraction at 12th overall, ahead of Edinburgh Castle that ranked 14th, and National Galleries Scotland, also located in the city, coming 15th.