Stakeholders' and 'craft beer tourism' development http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/3831/ Article LJMU has developed LJMU Research Online for users to access the research output of the University more effectively. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LJMU Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain.The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of the record. Please see the repository URL above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.
LJMU Research OnlineStakeholders' and 'craft beer tourism' development Abstract The growth of craft brewing in many countries is increasingly documented in the academic literature. However, research on this phenomenon, concerning the tourism side, is still limited. This exploratory study contributes to the developing body of craft brewing research, investigating the potential, opportunities and challenges of craft beer tourism (CBT) from the perspective of a group of predominantly micro-brewers operating in three nations. The significance of these entrepreneurs as stakeholders of this burgeoning industry justifies the use of stakeholder theory (ST) as the study's theoretical foundation; this adoption represents a further contribution of the study. The usefulness of ST is confirmed, with the findings particularly aligning with the descriptive, instrumental, and normative theses. Additionally, different perceptions of the potential of CBT based on country are identified; content analysis provides further support when different forms of CBT that could be developed are identified. The study also underlines various important practical and theoretical implications, and suggests future research opportunities.