The Brewers Guild has relaunched its beer tourism product, the NZ Ale Trail, as the busy summer season kicks off.

The nationwide initiative offers an interactive map where visitors can explore brewery and taproom locations, plan a trail, and discover food and beverage experiences across Aotearoa.

The Trail was originally tested in 2020, but the subsequent lull in tourism and pressures on businesses saw it parked until the market was ready for a new proposition.

The Guild says that research conducted by Tourism New Zealand, which showed that 85% of visitors to New Zealand have food and drink tasting at the top of their priority list, indicated the time was right to relaunch the new-look trail.

“We want to be proactive in supporting both our brewers and hospitality businesses by creating a platform that makes it easier for visitors to explore what the industry has to offer,” says Melanie Kees, Executive Director of the Brewers Guild of New Zealand.

“The goal is to promote beer tourism as a new and exciting option for those who are looking for an alternative to the usual food and beverage experiences – we’ve taken our industry and turned it into an attraction!”

The NZ Ale Trail is open to any venue that offers a wide selection of New Zealand beers or brewing-related experiences.

“Brewing is fun and vibrant, urban and rural, the industry is year-round, and we’ve got some fantastic sustainability stories to tell as well, so we tick a lot of the boxes of what visitors and locals are looking for,” says Kees. “The craft of brewing is an attraction in itself; in fact, many venues offer brewery tours, tasting trays, and other activities that offer a fully immersive experience.”

She says that while beer tourism is a popular activity in Europe and North America, it is as yet an “untapped” market in New Zealand.

Kees said she looks forward to Tourism New Zealand and regional tourism agencies getting behind the initiative. “You can have hospitality without tourism, but you can’t have tourism without hospitality, and the NZ Ale Trail will offer both of those in a way that showcases the talent, innovation, and experiences that the local brewing industry has to offer.”

 W: Visit nzaletrail.com