Beer tourism used to be what we beer geeks just called vacation, but in the past decade “beercation” has become a lucrative trend with a catchy name. To go on “beercation” has become a right of passage for beer lovers who are visiting destination breweries and crossing off world-class taverns from their bucket lists.
In 2013, says a Twin Cities Business article that was published recently, Minnesota’s beer industry created $742 million in economic impact. Explore Minnesota and the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild want to cash in on that impact, and have partnered for an advertising campaign promoting “Brewcations” to the more than fifty craft breweries in the state.
Another state banking on beer tourism is Colorado, where the Colorado Brewers Guild is branding “The State of Craft Beer” as its tagline. Said branding is intended to help the state’s tourism office and Visit Denver better promote the Colorado craft-beer industry, which according to the Brewers Association generated $1.6 billion in economic impact in 2013.