Catherine Toolan is the managing director of Diageo Irish Brand Homes, a portfolio of world-renowned visitor experiences, consisting of The Guinness Storehouse, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery, Roe & Co Distillery and Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny.

The Guinness Storehouse, on its own, welcomes up to 1.5 million visitors annually and is a key asset in Dublin city’s tourism offering. In October 2022, it won the highly coveted ‘European Beer Tour Visitor Attraction of the Year’ at the World Travel Awards in Mallorca.

Since taking the helm at The Guinness Storehouse in 2020, Catherine has steered the team to reposition the experience to attract both domestic and international visitors through a programme of culture, community, food and arts. Some notable collaborations include the award-winning Creatives Against Covid Art Exhibition, Other Voices and a collaboration with world-renowned Dublin street artist, Aches.

Business and leisure tourism are critical economic drivers for Dublin and Ireland and during the Covid-19 pandemic Catherine played a key role in the Dublin Destination Recovery Taskforce to build back a strong and sustainable tourism proposition for the city.

Prior to joining Diageo, Catherine had a very successful career in brand experiences, events, business tourism, live music, food and hospitality, spanning three continents and including eight years in China. Career highlights include overseeing the build, design, food, retail and hospitality for elite athletes at the Summer Olympics and Asian Games in Beijing, Guangzhou, London and Rio De Janeiro, leading some of the largest food and hospitality projects in the world.

Catherine is from Sligo on the beautiful Wild Atlantic Way and is a graduate of Galway Institute of Technology, University College Dublin and Tsinghua University, Beijing.