Ballynahinch woman enjoying life as a tour guide at Hinch Distillery

Hinch Distillery Tours – part of Discover Northern Ireland’s Embrace a Giant Spirit collection - takes participants on a fun, informative and hands-on journey that starts in the ingredients room and finishes in a bespoke tasting area.

One of the tour guides, 26-year-old Becky Figueira from Ballynahinch took up her post 18 months ago after eight years in the retail industry. Becky now spends her days educating people about the distillery’s range of triple distilled Irish whiskeys and gin and couldn’t be happier.

She said: “Of all the jobs I have ever had, this is my favourite. Meeting and chatting with new people every day really is special – it’s a privilege to know I’m helping to make someone’s day.

“The people on our tours are what makes them, they bring their own questions and have their own insights and it really is like a live performance where you feed off the crowd.

“The customers come in to hear from me and I can tell them everything that goes into making Hinch Distillery unique, but I can learn from them too.”

Admitting she somewhat stumbled upon the job advert on social media 18-months ago, Becky is enthusiastic about her career trajectory and says she is learning something new every day in this role.

“I had very little experience when I applied for this role and besides taking the occasional dram with my grandad, I didn’t know much about whiskey,” says Becky.

“When I started, I was shadowing other tour guides and was given the bare bones of a script to help take people on a sensory journey through the distillery.

“Already I am growing in this role, I now do the gin tours and tasting and sampling experiences at airports, hotels and off-licences and I help the marketing team with their social media campaigns and business development ideas as well.

“It is a great job and one that I really love. There are a lot of opportunities in this industry. At the minute, the idea of being a brand ambassador appeals, though I also have an interest in the production side too – I would love to learn how to ferment and distil the product.

“I really have found the sector I want to make my career in and thankfully there are lots of avenues for growth.”

While Becky and her colleagues may now realise the career opportunities that exist within Northern Ireland’s burgeoning tourism industry, for many that is not the case.

Tourism NI is actively seeking to encourage more people to make a career in Northern Ireland’s tourism and hospitality industry through its Make It Here campaign.

If you are starting out or thinking of switching to a career in the tourism and hospitality industry visit www.makeyourcareer.co.uk. To find out more about Hinch Distillery’s tours visit www.hinchdistillery.com.