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

2. 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?

5. 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)

6. 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

7. 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

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

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

10. Breweries

11. 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

12. 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

13. Branding

14. Early campaign concept

15. The Build Out

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

17. Digital & Retargeting

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

19. 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

20. Social Media

21. Beerwerks Trail Passport

22. 8 Adventures

27. Beerwerks Comments

28. Beerwerks Comments

29. 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

30. Untappd Partnership
September 2019 – September 2020

31. 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.

32. Questions??