What is it?
When we think about traveling food and beverage tours, many of us imagine driving along massive grapevine fields in Burgundy, or gawking at the seafood in the Mercat de Boqueria in Barcelona but what about smoking weed in a Denver Sushi bar? It has only been since recently, as the Millenial consumer has begun to accumulate wealth, that things like Marijuana tours have become accepted as “upscale.”
Why it’s Cool?
Since recreational Marijuana legalization in 2016, Denver has enjoyed a boom of “weed tourists” largely driven by the Millennial market. According to the Washington Post, 55 million people, the vast majority of which are Millennials. The problem has been marketing the experience to a more upscale market, until now. 420tours.com offers everything from Sushi and joint rolling class, and Marijuana friendly hotels to all-inclusive 3 day Marijuana focused vacations.
One experience that stood out, an experience-based offering, allowed the customer to learn how to roll both Sushi, and the perfect Marijuana cigarette. Now, learning to roll sushi certainly sounds easier while sober, but again it’s the experience that counts.
Why it has future growth potential?
Tourists can choose from a range of activities which are marijuana-oriented but not solely focused on it. And therein lies the future potential growth, incorporating the inherent popularity in the drug with the hospitality industry. Many foodies who enjoy fine dining wouldn’t think of eating a fancy meal without the wine accompaniment, it just seems natural. However, at some point, customers were conditioned to expect food and wine to complement each other. As the negative stigma of marijuana withers away, one must consider how we will incorporate the substance into our lives, and to what degree. Will there be Marijuana Sommeliers, will fast food restaurants offer their own strain to enjoy with their food, will people travel long distances to enjoy the plant? The answer to the latter is clearly yes, and the people who are able to predict its future place in our society, will reap the benefits.
