Craft Businesses and Local Government Sheryl Wagner, Director of Tourism City of Staunton

Background Initiative of three localities Greater Augusta Regional Tourism Staunton Tourism Augusta County Economic Development & Tourism Waynesboro Economic Development & Tourism What do we have in common?

Research As of 2015… No destination brewery Beers have limited distribution Limited buzz Shortage of funding New Partners Harrisonburg Tourism (Brothers) Lexington & Rockbridge Area Tourism (Devils Backbone)

Research VA increasingly seen as beer/brewery destination Beercations are a thing! Breweries are a main attraction for travelers What else do tourists do while traveling for craft beer? Dine out Outdoor Recreation Music Festivals/Events

Research Beer-attracted tourists average age of 39.5 (9 years younger than typical visitor) Typical beer visitor is highly educated with disposable income Visiting breweries is better with friends: social, fun

Partners City of Staunton Augusta County City of Waynesboro City of Harrisonburg City of Lexington/Rockbridge County

Funding Five localities $50,000 annually Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Program Grant - $50,000 50 Years of LOVE Grant - $10,000

Breweries

Branding Who are we? What is unique about this area? Fresh Ale Trail: We put the craft in beer Beer Frontier: Virginia’s newest craft beer region Appalachian [Beer] Trail: Beer worth walking a thousand miles for

Branding Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail Nod to the area’s German heritage Brewer knowledge, pride, and dedication Leverage our natural assets: connect experience of craft beer to place Experiential aspect of travel Local people, local flavor, authenticity Agricultural legacy

Branding

Early campaign concept

The Build Out

Print Advertising Magazines Virginia Craft Beer Edible Blue Ridge Blue Ridge Outdoors Washingtonian

Digital & Retargeting

Email-marketing Combination strategy: Purchase of “dedicated e-newsletters” to 100K+ Campaign e-mail list to 3K+

Public Relations Integrated PR + Content Marketing + Social Media Campaigns Craft beer influencers Bloggers Local/regional/state Travel writers Word of mouth/user generated content FAM tours

Social Media

Beerwerks Trail Passport

8 Adventures

Beerwerks Comments

Beerwerks Comments

Beerwerks Passport Passport launched December 2017 4,095 passports redeemed 40 per week on average 24,419 brewery visits 47 states + Washington, DC 5 Foreign Countries: Australia, Columbia, Canada, Germany & Norway

Untappd Partnership September 2019 – September 2020

Measuring Success Breweries on the trail are expanding and investing – brewing capacity, restaurants, lodging, outdoor space. New breweries have opened. Basic City Beer Co. Stable Craft Skipping Rock Beer Co. Bedlam Brewing Great Valley Farm Brewery The Friendly Fermenter Heliotrope Brewing (2020) Cave Hill Brewing?? Hotels are offering craft beer packages. Valley Hop On Tours – for groups wanting a designated driver/tour experience.

Questions??