A new study about the economic impact of Beer Tourism in West Michigan reveals some good news.
The Economic Impact of Beer Tourism in Kent County is the 2019 study recently released from Experience Grand Rapids. And it reveals good news. The impact more than tripled from its previous study in 2015—the numbers show an increase from 12.23 million dollars to the current 38.5 million.
Here’s Kate Lieto, Director of Marketing at Experience G.R.
“So, we were thrilled that what we thought we were seeing with beer being a real tourism driver and economic impact, turned out to be true.”
And Leito says keep in mind, this study is only looking at the impact of beer tourism, not the entire picture.
“So, if you were to measure the economic impact of beer in our area, that would be a lot higher. This is just people coming here, taking a trip or vacation coming to our area, because of beer.”
With beer being the catalyst, and Experience GR investing in promotions such as the Beer City Brewsader Passport, Beer month and just continuing the use of the moniker beer city.. the actual benefits are very far reaching for many businesses.
“Yeah, definitely. Anytime a tourist comes into town, there are a lot of different people and businesses that benefit. So, you kind of nailed it with hotels, for sure. Breweries, of course, but then there’s other businesses, ride share companies, restaurants, of course, people have to eat.”
Leito says they’re not stopping here. Their efforts will continue.
“Its great how many people have come here for beer, but there’s a lot, in the Midwest even, but definitely nationally, that haven’t heard of Grand Rapids or Beer City. So, we’re going to keep spreading the word and hopefully driving more traffic here as time goes on.”
