CAPE TOWN - The Beer Association of South Africa (Basa) has launched the inaugural Beer Tourism Week to support local craft breweries hard hit by the four alcohol bans in support of Tourism Month during September.
In the lead up to World Tourism Day on September 27, it will be hosted from September 20 to September 26 under the theme: “Tourism for Inclusive Growth – Covid-19 Recovery – Building Back Better”.
The primary aim of Beer Tourism week is to promote and support the 180 craft breweries in the country which were hard hit by the alcohol bans since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown in March last year.
In a statement, Basa said: “The four alcohol bans over the past 17 months, which saw liquor establishments and outlets losing 161 trade days, dealt a significant blow to craft breweries, with at least 27 being forced to shut their doors permanently. With craft breweries that managed to survive still struggling to get back on their feet, we are encouraging South Africans to visit breweries and taprooms during Beer Tourism week in order to give these local businesses and the livelihoods they support a boost.”
As part of Beer Tourism week, BASA has launched the following initiatives:
An online interactive BrewRoute map that showcases 180 craft breweries across the country. South Africans can visit the online map to see the locations of breweries in our nine provinces and to get more information on each of them. The map can be accessed by visiting: https://brewroutes.co.za/
Six Brew Routes are also provided on the website in six regions or provinces. They are the Western Cape, West Coast, Eastern Cape, North West, Johannesburg and Mpumalanga. The maps which can be downloaded, also highlight other tourist attractions, which can be visited as part of these routes.
The biggest beer selfie competition will run from September 24 to October 31. South Africans are encouraged to take a selfie with their friends or family at their favourite brewery and upload it to Instagram, tagging the brewery and BASA (@beer_southafrica) with the hashtags #BeerSouthAfrica and #BrewRoutes in order to stand a chance of winning their share of vouchers from breweries across the country.
BASA plans to continue expanding the BrewRoutes map, including launching beer routes in all nine provinces over the coming months.
“We encourage South Africans to visit https://brewroutes.co.za/ and to support a local brewery during Beer Tourism week and thereafter, in order to ensure the future sustainability of the craft beer sector and thousands of jobs.
“With the threat of a fourth Covid-19 wave in November, we urge craft breweries to continue playing their part by enforcing the wearing of masks and social distancing in their establishments. We also call on consumers to drink in moderation and continue taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves and others from Covid-19.
“Finally, we also encourage all South Africans over the age of 18 years to get vaccinated. This is the only way we will be able to fully reopen the economy and resume our normal lives, particularly as we head into the festive season, which is a critical period for the beer industry and the over 450 000 livelihoods it supports,” said Basa.
Cape Times