I learned this week that National Beer Day is celebrated on different dates in the United Kingdom and United States.
At least that might allow some travelers to celebrate both and some hotels to get a few more bookings.
In the U.S., National Beer Day is celebrated on April 7, which makes sense because April 7, 1933, was the date in which the Cullen-Harrison Act came into force in the U.S. This piece of legislation ended prohibition, at least for some alcoholic drinks, or more correctly, the volume strength of some alcoholic drinks.
In the United Kingdom, National Beer Day is June 15, an event supported by the British Beer and Pub Association, Society of Independent Brewers and Campaign for Real Ale. Honestly I did not believe we Brits would need a designated day to remind us to order a pint.
That choice of date is less obvious, but I researched that it corresponds to the signing of the Magna Carta, which every school student knows was signed on a Thames River flood plain at Runnymede in 1215.
That law shared a tiny bit of the king’s power with an exceedingly small group of already powerful barons but to no one else. Beer was mentioned in the treaty document, apparently.
Marquette County, Michigan, is bullish about the U.S. edition of National Beer Day, telling me that it “offers the perfect respite … and [is] off the beaten path from big-name brew towns like Asheville [North Carolina], Portland [Oregon], etc.”
A bit of a dig there, something to ponder when you sip your first craft ale.
The note added that “Michigan’s brewing industry alone contributes over $144 million in wages and more than $600 million to the economy.”
According to research firm IBISWorld, the U.K. pubs and bars industry contributed £18.3 billion ($23.3 billion) in 2023.
The marketing firm said that level is set to decline, but this is, in my opinion, because of the taxes and rates system being weighted against the sector, not because people are tired of the concept.
Yes, inflation has added pressure to supply chains, which in turn increases prices and leads to fewer drinks being sold. But thinking along those lines goes counter to the way we should be looking at it. Socializing and interaction are at the core of what we are as humans, and the hotels and pubs sector can be made more vibrant and support and elevate that trait.
This can be achieved through good food and non-alcoholic drinks, which are more popular than ever.
In the U.K., the Institute of Hospitality formed a strategic partnership with the Night Time Industries Association to lobby policymakers over the importance and value of the bars, pubs and restaurants.
Many hoteliers are doing all they can to make their hotels more agreeable and exciting, and the government should do all it mathematically can to have the equation work to the sector’s benefit.
There is a Member of Parliament or Congress person close to you. Drop them a line.
At least in the U.K., I do not expect the government to bring the subject up for the industry before the industry brings it up to them, not in an election year.
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