Everyone in the beer industry knows that beer tourism is on the rise. Breweries are profiting from it, communities are promoting it, and tourists are engaging in it.

At Zephyr Conferences we also pay attention to the media that covers beer tourism. We have seen an increasing number of articles mentioning this aspect of the travel industry.

On August 27, journalist Angie Giroux wrote an article on the rise of beer tourism. Also increasingly common is that we at Zephyr Conferences were contacted for background information and quotes.

“Beer tourism is definitely a new phenomenon,” says Allan Wright, owner of Taste Vacations and organizer of the annual Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference. “Compared to wine tourism, which has been established for many decades, traveling for beer has really only become popular in the last five years or so.”

“There are many aspects to beer tourism. On a basic level, beer tourism can simply mean going out of one’s way to visit a local brewery when traveling for work or pleasure,” Wright says. “Slightly more complex is to actually plan a vacation to a city or region known for its beer, such as Asheville, N.C., or Belgium, and incorporate brewery visits into your travels.”

“When a brewery is positioned in a non-tourist location, such as a closed-after-hours business district or an area in need of economic revitalization, beer tourism can positively effect an entire community,” Wright says. “Most breweries in the United States are small and reliant on tap room sales; beer tourism can provide a huge impact on a brewery’s bottom line.”

For more on beer tourism, please consider attending the fourth annual Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference this February 4 – 6 in St. Petersburg, Florida!