Beer and Tourism: A Relationship Worth Fostering

Introduction

Unlike wine, whisky and cider, which are only produced in certain parts of the UK, beer is brewed throughout the country. The main raw ingredients of real ale, hops and malting barley, are easily transportable and it can therefore be brewed anywhere. In contrast the finished beer product is more difficult to transport, in terms of volume and danger of the beer spoiling. Thus breweries and local beers are found all around the country in cities, towns and villages. The regional character of ales tends to come from brewers’ choice of raw ingredients, yeast, their traditional recipes, styles, and the character of the local water supply.

Throughout this article beer is used largely to refer to real ale – draught or bottled beer brewed from traditional ingredients, served without added gas. Although global brewing companies dominate in volume terms with keg beers and lagers, the demand for traditional beer and traditional pubs has remained strong. In many areas there has been a resurgence in small brewpubs and boutique breweries, although many traditional breweries continue to be taken over each year.

Beer and local distinctiveness

Hops are grown in several parts of England including Kent, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The fields of hop poles up which the vine-like hops climb are a distinctive feature of the landscape, summer and winter. Oast houses in Kent and hop kilns in Herefordshire and Worcestershire were used in the past to dry the hops and are now seen throughout these areas as architectural reminders of the industry.

The other essential ingredient of beer is malted barley. Barley is grown more widely than hops, particularly in the east of England. Whilst fields of barley do not link to beer so immediately in people's minds, there were many buildings used as maltings which still bear that name in market towns and at ports – further historic reminders of the industry.

Beer is not as closely linked with place as wine with its distinct 'terroirs'. The product-place connection is more nebulous than with other traditional drinks, for instance, Somerset and cider, Speyside and whisky or Champagne and champagne. Experts contend that there are identifiable regional characteristics to beers, however to the untrained palate the origin of the beer is difficult to tell and there is no 'appellation' type system which controls the regional characteristics of beer. This makes it more difficult to promote beer and its source location as tourism destinations or brands.

However many breweries are very proud of their roots in a particular locale and have place-specific names such as Wye Valley, St Austell, Isle of Skye, Breconshire, Hook Norton and the Salopian Breweries (Salop being the old name for Shropshire). Many brewers also promote their beer as place-specific, for example Exmoor Gold, Cumberland Ale, Shropshire Lad, London Pride, Weymouth Best or Ale of Wight. Beers are often called after regional or local symbols such as sheep breeds, wildlife, mountains or famous local landmarks, stories or people – Great Bustard, Riggwelter, Schiehallion, Helvellyn Gold, Celtic Queen, Twisted Spire.

As consumers, beer drinkers are quite likely to identify strongly with their own local brews, as visitors they will be keen to try out new real ales and associate these with particular trips. For many visitors a trip to Suffolk would not be complete without a pint of Adnams, similarly Sussex and Harveys, Kent and Shepherd Neame, Cardiff and Brains.

So while the connection between beer and destination may not be as strong as say wine and the Loire, Rhine or Napa Valleys, there are many connections and beer is an important part of the sense of place of a local area – at least for those who drink beer.

The market for beer and beer tourism

CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) conducts an ongoing tracker survey [1] monitoring beer drinking and pub usage. Figures for 2009 indicate:

• 72% of adults visit pubs, but only 25% go at least once a week
• 72% of adults over 18 drink alcohol (80% of men and 65% of women)
• 50% of people have tried real ale (67% of men and 30% of women)
• of those who have tried real ale 64% have tried real ale brewed by a local brewer
• this includes 75% of 45-54 year olds and 79% of socioeconomic groups AB

This indicates that the market for real ale is most likely to be middle-aged men from higher socio-economic groups. Fewer young people and women drink beer and perhaps lower socio-economic groups are more likely to drink beers and lagers from global companies.

CAMRA’s membership has been growing fast in recent years from 5,000 in 1973 to 30,000 in 1976, 50,000 in 1997, 75,000 in 2005 and 100,000 in 2009.

The male dominance of the market may not be a major issue with regards to eating, drinking and staying in pubs, as accompanying partners can always choose to drink something else. However when it comes to beer festivals, trails, brewery tours etc, uptake is more likely to be from either all male groups or couples who both enjoy beer.

Women are increasingly drinking beer, perhaps partly influenced by a widening range of products such as golden ales, fruit beers, milds (which are low in calories) and more inclusive marketing campaigns. CAMRA have increasingly included women in promotional photographs, women beer experts on their tasting panels and periodic campaigns to encourage women to try real ale. The use of branded and more attractive glasses may influence some and many pubs are now more welcoming to women with greater emphasis on food, lack of smoke and a more relaxed atmosphere.

The Cyclops tasting scheme, which introduced tasting notes for beers, is an attempt to broaden the market and educate beer drinkers. It operates along the lines of wine tasting letters and numbers and has been taken up by many brewers to use on bottles and beer mats. This presents beer in a more sophisticated/educated way and helps guide drinkers towards beer which they will like – according to their style, smell and colour and how bitter or sweet they taste.

Promoting pubs

A wide selection of guides on places to eat, drink and stay is currently available which suggests that pub tourism demand is strong.

National guides include:

• CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide (the best seller)
• The Good Pub Guide
• AA Pub Guide
• Michelin Eating Out in Pubs
• Alastair Sawday’s Special Places Pubs and Inns
• Dog Friendly Pub Guide
• Real Ale Pub Guide
• Family Pub Guides
• The Rough Pub Guide

There are also many more regional or local guides or listings. Each type of guide will have its aficionados – depending on their tastes or requirements and pub owners need to consider the benefits of being listed.

A new departure is the development of hi-tech versions of such guides. CAMRA now markets a Good Beer Guide mobile phone application and a POI file for sat navs for locating the nearest good beer pub while travelling around the UK.

The pub appeal

Icons, destinations and heritage

The country pub is a familiar icon of rural life and is an important feature of the rural landscape. Most tourists in rural England, whether beer drinkers or not, will visit a pub or inn at some stage.

They may merely stop for a drink, have a pub meal or may choose to stay in the pub's guest rooms or campsite. The relaxed country feel of a pub or inn can be preferable to more formal hotel accommodation or a bed and breakfast.

Those engaging in activities such as walking or cycling are likely to try to ensure a stop at a convenient pub for lunch or for a drink. There are many leaflets, guidebooks and websites detailing walks which suggest pubs as lunch stops or start/finish points. The Inn Way series, for example, covers many parts of the UK.

Pubs and bars in towns and cities are also popular – particularly if they have a good reputation for food, an interesting interior, famous connections or are set in an attractive location. However, they are less likely to be dependent on tourism than rural pubs with smaller local markets.

Some pubs are mini destinations in themselves. Examples include:

• The Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales – the highest in Britain
• The Pen Y Gwyrd beneath Snowdon – used for generations by climbers and which houses memorabilia of famous mountaineering exhibitions
• The Square and Compass at Worth Matravers in Devon – very traditional, with simple food, cider and its own fossil museum
• The Sligachan Inn, Skye and the Old Dungeon Ghyll, Langdale in the Lake District – famous with generations of walkers and climbers
• Kelham Island Tavern, Sheffield – CAMRA’s pub of the year 2008

Pubs, inns and bars are often important architecturally or for their heritage value. CAMRA has its own heritage pubs website and publications which list a wide range of heritage pubs. These include:

• Characterful rural pubs – such as the Barley Mow at Kirk Ireton, Derbyshire
• One room rural pubs – now very few, including the Sun Inn, Leintwardine, Herefordshire
• Back street locals – such as the Oxford Bar, Edinburgh (since made famous as the haunt of Ian Rankin’s Rebus)
• Glamorous Victorian pubs – the Philharmonic, Liverpool or the Crown Bar, Belfast for example
• Art Deco bars – such as the Steps Bar, Glasgow

Such pubs are now promoted through specialist guides including London Heritage Pubs or Scotland’s True Heritage Pubs.

A new offer

Pubs are currently under considerable threat around the country and have been reportedly closing at a rate of 40 or 50 a week. (See October 2009 Tourism Insights article The State of the British Pub for further information, including contributing factors.)

From a tourism perspective, the main concern is pubs which are an important tourism resource. The loss of a good pub, particularly in isolated rural locations where there are no alternatives, will impact on the whole visitor economy.

On a positive note there are still around 57,000 pubs in the UK and hopefully those which are surviving are the better ones which offer visitors a good experience. Many pubs are diversifying – setting up micro breweries, updating their accommodation, incorporating a shop/post office, broadening their appeal by offering tea and coffee, or specialising in food.

Over the last ten years the number of pubs with Michelin stars for their food has grown from just one (The Stagg at Titley Herefordshire) to ten, with many more now having been awarded the ‘bib gourmand’ – the next award level down.

So pubs that diversify are meeting a demand which can lead to their success in the longer term.

Breweries as a tourism product

Beer drinkers and other tourists are often interested in visiting breweries. Much as whisky distilleries have become popular tourist attractions in Scotland, or visiting vineyards and wineries is popular in Australia, California and South Africa, there is potential for breweries to host visitors to their premises. Such visits will promote the beer brands, generate more customer loyalty and could involve sales of the beer itself.

Beer can also be a retail business opportunity aimed at locals and tourists. A number of market towns have beer or real ale shops which complement other specialist food outlets in towns such as Knaresborough, Yorkshire and Leominster, Herefordshire.

However brewery tours and retails sales are not a viable option for many companies because the potential benefits from sales or developing customer awareness and loyalty are often outweighed by the costs. Many are small businesses and cannot afford the staff time and resources. There are likely to be public health and safety requirements and the need for additional facilities such as toilets or refreshments that are often expected by visitors.

Breweries as visitor attractions

Breweries which actively promote themselves as visitor attractions include Batemans’ Brewery at Wainfleet in Lincolnshire. This large old family brewery now has a visitor centre and offers a brewery experience, traditional pub games for families, bar, café and shop. The much smaller High House Farm Brewery in Northumberland has an exhibition, bar, tearoom and shop. Several other towns around the country are also known for their breweries including Southwold, Suffolk (Adnams) and Lewes in Sussex.

Most of the breweries participating in the Cask Marque scheme offer brewery tours – promoted collectively via www.visitabrewery.co.uk. These include many well-known beer brands: Adnams, Banks’s, Black Sheep, Brains, Butcombe, Caledonian, Carlsberg, Fuller's, Greene King, Harveys, Hook Norton, Hydes, Jennings, Marston’s, Okells, Palmers, Ringwood, St Austell, Theakstons, Thwaites, Timothy Taylor, Wadworth, Wells & Young’s and Wychwood.

Visitor figures are published for only a few breweries. VisitEngland figures for 2008 show a spread of modest numbers, although most of these have seen an upward trend over the last few years.

Source: VisitEngland Annual Visits to Visitor Attractions Survey 2008

Burton-on-Trent, the home of the old Bass Brewery, housed the National Museum of Brewing for many years. When Bass were taken over by Coors this became the Coors Visitor Centre. It closed in 2008, possibly due to a drop in visitor numbers when the museum changed its name.

Following strong local and national campaigning to save the museum, set in old brewery buildings, a deal has been done and the museum is expected to reopen this spring as the National Brewery Centre, operated by Planning Solutions Ltd. The company also runs Conkers, the award-winning attraction in the National Forest. They aim to relaunch it as a major attraction using live performers as characters to bring the site to life.

Festivals – an important part of the relationship

Beer festivals are popular annual events in many places and generate tourist overnight stays and day visitors. CAMRA lists over 150 beer festivals around the UK held throughout the year, organised by their local branches. There are also many other beer festivals and small single pub festivals organised by landlords.

There are two ‘national’ beer festivals each year – the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) at Earl’s Court, London in the first week of August and the National Winter Ales Festival – held in January in Manchester. The GBBF attracted 64,000 people in 2009, a 7.6% increase from 2008. In fact many festivals reported record attendances last year – the Beer on the Wye Festival in Hereford in July ran out of beer despite extra deliveries and had to cancel its final day – an event which itself drew international media interest.

Many people will travel to beer festivals as part of a short break and require accommodation and even those attending from the local area may want to stay overnight to avoid driving home. This generates valuable income for local accommodation and food providers.

Beer is obviously also an important product featured at most food and drink festivals. There are usually at least five or six local breweries with stands at the Ludlow Food and Drink Festival which help the festivities go with a swing. The breweries consider their attendance at these festivals as an important PR exercise – an opportunity to interact with their local customers and broaden the audience for their beers by offering tasters and selling other merchandise. Visitors from further afield may be frustrated to find that many breweries do not supply nationally – but they may buy bottled beer or mail order in the future.

Beer trails as part of a sustainable tourism strategy

A common mechanism for promoting an area using food or drink as a theme is a trail or route which links various relevant locations. This emphasises local distinctiveness, encourages local sourcing and is a common part of a sustainable tourism strategy. Good examples include the Speyside Whisky Trail or the Dão Wine Route in Portugal, and Somerset and Herefordshire have used cider and apple juice as themed promotional campaigns for many years in the form of routes, trails and guides. Beer, however, has not often been the focus of such trails or routes in the past.

Given the range of pub and beer guides mentioned earlier, is there a role for beer or ale trails? Here are a few examples:

• Cumbria Ale Trail launched in 2006 featuring 22 breweries. It was promoted that year at the British Travel Trade Fair accompanied by about ten Lake District breweries which all had their own promotional leaflets encouraging visitors.
• The Shropshire Real Ale Trail has recently been launched featuring a dozen breweries and their beers. All breweries offer tours, but all but one requires advance booking and most prefer to host group visits.
• Greene King has recently published a Capital Cask Ale Trail of London featuring 22 traditional pubs which serve Greene King beers. It appears to be a promotion for their new beer Royal London.
• The Stockport Ale Trail promotes three routes through the town each of which features six to eight pubs – conceivably thus forming the route for a pub crawl. This seems to be a good model to link the pubs and additional information about local breweries and other visitor attractions nearby.
• The Bungay Real Ale Trail - exploring historic public houses in Old Bungay Town is a map-based leaflet promoting its nine Suffolk pubs, all of which are of historic interest, as well as St Peter's Hall and Brewery, a local brewery and restaurant.
• At a national scale www.scottishaletrail.com attempts to link breweries with visitor facilities across Scotland. Launched in 2007 it appears to be only semi-operational currently.

An obvious issue with beer trails is the need to avoid the underlying promotion of drinking and driving. Solutions include promoting public transport cycling or walking routes. The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, which includes local authorities, the University of Plymouth, Wessex Trains and rail user groups operates six Rail Ale Trails. If a destination or group of tourism operators set up a trail, it is helpful to include more general themes such as the landscape and local heritage which provides a backdrop to brewing in the area.

The market for beer trails or brewery visits can include day visitors, domestic or overseas tourists and special interest groups such as branches of CAMRA. Special markets to be considered include stag breaks, college reunions, sport clubs trips and even corporate functions for whom a brewery and or pub venue would be a refreshing change. Some breweries such as the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley, Cumbria have added function room facilities for this market.

Beer holidays

The market for organised beer breaks or holidays appears relatively limited. In the UK only a few operators offer breaks with a beer theme. Warners Leisure highlight beer tasting or a brewery tour as part of a longer package. In the Lake District, Mountain Goat offer ‘pint to pint’ tours – usually bespoke for particular groups. Swish offer a chauffered Lake District Ale Trail day trip through the central Lakes.

Crookham Travel call themselves the Rail Ale Ramble People and have been offering day tours and longer holidays involving trains and beer in the UK and abroad for over 30 years. 4ale in West Somerset promote breaks for real ale enthusiasts including staying at a licensed guest house, brewery workshops, walks to good local pubs and gourmet meals with beer tastings. Some micro breweries such as the Hardknott at the Woolpack Inn in Cumbria offer weekend brewing courses with accommodation in the pub.

CAMRA publishes beer guides to Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic and USA West Coast which enthusiasts can use whilst on holiday. Some tour operators offer trips to these countries which have a beer theme or are timed to coincide with beer festivals. There are a few specialist tours organised by enthusiasts such as Podge on Beer which is offering six trips to Belgium in 2010 with themes of beer and heritage, beer and battlefields, beer festivals and brewery tours.

Other countries, such as Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic, have their own famous brands of beer but most are very similar and lager style and few provide the sole motivation for trips. This is an overlooked strength for the UK. The implications include not only making more of beer for overseas visitors who don’t have similar products at home but also potential for specialist markets in other countries which do have a good beer offer – such as beer breaks for German and Belgian beer fans.

Further challenges

In addition to the challenges mentioned above, another issue is the speed of change in the brewing and pub business (in comparison to wine, whisky and even cider). Some breweries change their products more often than others and many brew seasonal ales. Thus listings in leaflets may be inaccurate or out of date. Pubs or breweries may also be taken over or close down leaving a gap or inaccuracies in any beer trail or promotion.

A further challenge with using beer in promotional material is its image. It is not perceived as a glamorous, sophisticated or modern product. In some ways this is not such a problem if promoting a tourism product with complementary themes of tradition, authenticity and taste. Perhaps more problematic is its unhealthy image. An increasing motivation for wine tourism may be the supposed health benefits of drinking wine in moderation. Perhaps beer can compete if it links itself with walking, cycling and healthy outdoor activities.

Opportunities for tourism

Beer packages: specialist beer themed trips including trips to breweries, interesting pubs, festivals and beer tastings, perhaps linked to walking or other food related activities.

Beer trails: serious beer tourists may be a relatively small sector but they are quite high spenders. A beer trail might be a major motivator for them to plan a weekend break or short holiday in the area in order to sample local beers, stay at pubs and visit one or two breweries.

Gastropubs with rooms: the market for stylish comfortable accommodation alongside a relaxed pub atmosphere and good food in an attractive location appeals to many people.

Linking beer to other products/attractions: There should be scope to link beer to other attractions or products of interest to visitors, such as other local food specialities, particularly those which complement beer, such as cheese, meat, sausages or even chocolate.

Further links could be engineered with music, art, heritage or sport (especially rugby, cricket, fishing), possibly in the form of festivals. The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in West Yorkshire has a buffet car selling real ale which is featured in the Good Beer Guide and stops near several good pubs. However there is scope to be more adventurous and look beyond these rather stereotypical (and often male-dominated) links.

Beer and fine dining: many brewers and chefs are matching beers with foods in specialist menus. Breweries are producing some bottled beers in attractive bottles which can be served at expensive restaurants.

Real/slow/sustainable tourism: beer is an essential element of local distinctiveness, tasting traditional and locally made products.

New initiatives and campaigns: CAMRA has a rapidly increasing membership (as highlighted earlier) and runs a range of high profile campaigns. Of particular interest is LocAle – an accreditation scheme launched in 2007 for pubs which serve locally brewed beer – reducing beer miles and increasing local benefits. Nearly half of CAMRA’s 200 branches have a LocAle scheme running.

New technology: in addition to the mobile phone and sat nav Good Beer Guide pub locators, Cask Marque also has a SMS messaging system to locate the nearest Cask Marque pubs. Web-based information can be amended at short notice and therefore help communicate pubs closing or new beers arriving.

Business networks linked to beer: significant benefits can be generated through bringing together a network of people and businesses interested in promoting beer tourism. This could include brewers, pubs, other local tourism businesses or local producers, CAMRA, local authorities, DMOs and tourism associations. Stakeholders become more aware of each other's activities and there is likely to be potential for joint initiatives such as establishing new events, joint promotions, a trail, website, joint purchasing arrangements or hosting PR trips.

Concluding thoughts

Beers across the UK include important traditional products which are part of the country’s heritage and many exciting and interesting new beers crafted by enthusiastic new businesses. It ought to be an easy sell to visitors to interest them in going to pubs visiting breweries and tasting quality beers, but beer appears to be overlooked by many tourism organisations and operators.

While there are certainly challenges to address there appear to be many opportunities. The specialist market of enthusiasts is perhaps small but growing. However with attractive promotions alongside initiatives to educate and make beer more accessible, the potential markets for tourism offers incorporating beer must be substantial. There is scope for a range of mutual benefits for both tourism and pubs and breweries through discussing local opportunities and working together to deliver them.

References

1. Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). www.camra.org.uk. Thanks to Jon Howard at CAMRA for information on CAMRA activities and statistics.

About the author

Alison Caffyn is a freelance consultant specialising in tourism development and rural regeneration. She has 20 years experience in tourism working in public and private sectors: South Shropshire Tourism Development Officer; Senior Consultant, ECOTEC Research and Consulting; Lecturer in Tourism at the University of Birmingham; and two regional tourist boards. Alison has worked with clients ranging from government agencies to local community groups and from large commercial attractions and national parks to small tourism enterprises. Alison lives on the Shropshire-Herefordshire border and specialises in destination plans for market towns; sustainable tourism strategies; developing outdoor activities, food and drink, heritage and community tourism initiatives.