421 - The Growth of Bourbon Tourism By The Numbers with Sean Higgins of Mint Julep Tours

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You might be wondering if we've hit peak bourbon. Bottles are everywhere and people are flocking to Kentucky in droves trying to get a Napa Valley kind of experience. Sean Higgins joins the show once again to talk about the growth of tourism, and he should know. He started Mint Julep Tours back in 2008 after noticing a gap in tourism offerings surrounding the bourbon trail. At the time, Kentucky was not yet booming in tourism like it is today. Fast forward to 2023, and bourbon tourism has exploded, with Kentucky now being a hot spot and destination as it tops the AirBNB travel charts every week. Sean shares how his business has adapted and grown through the bourbon boom, what the pandemic did for tourism in the state. We also touch on the changing demographic of visitors and innovation he sees within the sector. Show Notes: Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about dusty bourbon What was the background of Mint Julep tours? What state is now the highest for visiting the bourbon trail? Have you seen an increase in bachelor and bachelorette parties? Do you see smaller or larger groups trending? What did COVID do to your business? Are we back to pre-COVID tourism numbers or higher? What's the demographic of people coming to visit now? Have you established the relationships at distilleries so spots are reserved? What innovation have you noticed in the tourism sector? Have we even hit mainstream yet for bourbon tourism? @mintjulepexperiences Support this podcast on Patreon

Transcript

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0:00.0	Yeah, we're celebrating 15 years this year.
0:02.7	I know.
0:03.3	This is congratulations.
0:04.4	And number 15 on the podcast.
0:06.3	It's like it all came together.
0:08.8	That's why it's happening right now.
0:11.3	It's destiny.
0:11.7	It just had to happen.
0:13.8	It had to happen.
0:13.8	It made sense. This is Bourbon Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, bringing to you the best in news, reviews, and interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen, and I'm one of
0:38.2	your host, Kenny Coleman. Now, if you're like me, you probably pay too much attention to the
0:42.2	bourbon market, and you might be wondering if we finally hit peak bourbon. Bottles are everywhere,
0:48.9	and people are starting to flock to Kentucky in droves, trying to get a Napa Valley kind of
0:53.8	experience.
0:55.0	And Sean Higgins, he joins the show once again to talk about the growth of tourism,
0:59.2	and he should know. He started mint julep tours back in 2008, after noticing a gap in tourism
1:04.6	offering surrounding the Bourbon Trail. At the time, Kentucky was not yet booming in tourism
1:09.3	like it is today. But fast forward to 2023, and bourbon tourism has now exploded, with Kentucky being a hotspot
1:17.0	and a destination as it tops the Airbnb travel charts almost every week.
1:22.1	Sean shares how his business has adapted and grown through the bourbon boom and really
1:26.8	what the pandemic did for tourism
1:28.5	in the state as well. We also touch on the changing demographic of visitors and where he sees
	...

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