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By Lori
Weisberg, The
San Diego
Union-Tribune November 7, 2011 Karl Strauss Brewer, which developed some special brews for Beer Week, is one of dozens of local breweries participating in this year's event. — Earnie Grafton Few vacationers need an excuse to visit San Diego, what with its omnipresent sunny skies, alluring beaches and wealth of family attractions. But for out-of-town beer aficionados looking for a November getaway, there’s really only one overriding reason to come: Beer Week. Chock full of hundreds of events devoted to the love of beer, the 10-day festival, which got underway Friday, is their version of SeaWorld, Legoland and the San Diego Zoo rolled into one. Now in its third year, the event is becoming a big draw for visitors eager to indulge in San Diego’s growing repertoire of craft brews. While the county’s mushrooming number of homegrown breweries — more than 30 at last count — is already known to locals, its reputation for quality beer is now spreading throughout the country as well. Recognizing the beverage’s potential to spur overnight visits during a slow time of the year, San Diego hoteliers have been willing to dole out generous tourism marketing subsidies to the San Diego Brewers Guild to help promote its annual event. By the time Beer Week ends next weekend, sponsors expect it to yield some 2,500 room nights, the equivalent of more than $300,000 in revenues. Local brewers, though, have far loftier goals for their still nascent effort, hoping that Beer Week can one day approach the draw of a bowl game, delivering more than 20,000 visitors to San Diego. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/04/want-to-fill-san-diego-hotel-rooms-try-beer/ |
Contact: Lori Weisberg, Staff Writer San Diego Union-Tribune 350 Camino de la Reina San Diego, CA 92102 619-293-2251 [email protected] |