{"id":8761,"date":"2013-09-25T10:38:32","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T17:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=8761"},"modified":"2013-09-25T11:01:26","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T18:01:26","slug":"recap-sd-craft-beer-hospitality-tourism-economic-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2013\/09\/25\/recap-sd-craft-beer-hospitality-tourism-economic-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: SD Craft Beer Hospitality & Tourism Economic Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask a non-San Diegan what they think of when they hear the words San Diego. Most people will say \u201cthe beach.\u201d Outside of that, you\u2019re likely to hear about Mexican food, bad sports teams, or cetacean reproductive organs, thanks to Will Ferrell. If Stone CEO Greg Koch and former Mayor Jerry Sanders get their way, craft beer is about to get a major bump.<\/p>\n

\"(L-r):<\/a>
(L-r): Omar Passions with Greg Koch, Vince Vasquez, Joe Terzi and Jerry Sanders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On September 19, scores of local policymakers gathered for a hospitality and tourism economic summit focused on craft beer at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station<\/a>. Councilmen, congressional candidates, hoteliers, sports executives and theme park operators took in presentations with one goal in mind: make San Diego synonymous with craft beer. While it may seem like San Diego has long-since attained this goal, Koch thinks we can do better.<\/p>\n

Koch began by looking at how integrated beer and wine are into the cultures of Munich and Napa Valley, respectively. Looking at those cities, he lamented that someone can \u201clive in or visit San Diego and leave not understanding the significant presence that San Diego craft beer has grown to, and the international recognition that we\u2019ve earned.\u201d Koch drove his point home by pointing out that San Diego netted fewer than 300 votes in Charlie Papazian\u2019s most recent \u201cBeerCity USA\u201d poll. To put that in perspective, Grand Rapids won the poll with more than 27,000 votes.<\/p>\n

Sanders, now the head of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, offered some suggestions on raising the profile of San Diego craft beer. \u201cWe need to make sure that we\u2019re boasting about San Diego as a craft beer destination,\u201d said Sanders. \u201cWe should make a pledge that when people come from all over the country to run in the Rock & Roll Marathon, they\u2019re not getting Bud Light or Miller Lite, they\u2019re getting San Diego craft beer that really brands our region.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s evident from the summit that the San Diego beer industry can tap into unrealized potential with a proactive strategy. Instead of thinking of the beer as a cherry on top of the beautiful weather, Koch and Sanders want San Diegans to think of beer as the main course. Only time will tell if San Diego will be able to market itself as more than just the sun.<\/p>\n

Ed. note: One concrete way that you can help spread the word of San Diego craft beer is to invite your friends to visit during San Diego Beer Week, especially for the Guild Fest<\/a> (Nov. 1 & 2) that supports the San Diego Brewers Guild. Also, use the hashtags #GuildFest #BrewerTakeover & #SDBW<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask a non-San Diegan what they think of when they hear the words San Diego. Most people will say \u201cthe beach.\u201d Outside of that, you\u2019re likely to hear about Mexican food, bad sports teams, or cetacean reproductive organs, thanks to Will Ferrell. If Stone CEO Greg Koch and former Mayor Jerry Sanders get their way, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1165],"class_list":{"0":"post-8761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","7":"tag-stone-brewing-world-bistro-gardens-liberty-staiton","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-2hj","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}