As if Beaches and Theme Parks Were Not Enough: Mediated Social Construction of Craft Beer Tourism in Tampa Bay

Abstract

The Tampa Bay region is a hotbed for craft beer. Occupied by 50 breweries, mostly opened in a five-year span, this chapter explores how a region visited for its beaches and theme parks became a tourist destination for craft beer. Content analysis of brewery and tourism organization websites, a new university brewing curriculum, and mass media stories identify a mediated support system that co-constructs a positive narrative of craft beer. Using social construction theory, this chapter explains and outlines how public and private institutional messages worked in lockstep to create the region as a destination beer market. Tampa Bay exemplifies a blend of creative and relational tourism that maintains local identity while constructing craft beer as the region’s next thriving form of tourism.