The role of the Lobik Brewery in the development of the beer tourism of the municipality of Ruše

Pivski turizem je v našem okolju relativno nov pojem. Obsega obiskovanje pivovarn, pivske tematske poti, pivske prireditve in množico drugih s pivom povezanih aktivnosti. V diplomskem delu smo raziskovali, kakšno vlogo bi pivovarna Lobik lahko imela pri razvoju pivskega turizma v občini Ruše. Teoretični del diplomskega dela smo začeli s predstavitvijo pojma gastronomija, nato smo raziskali zgodovino pivovarstva, se posvetili pivskemu turizmu pri nas in po svetu ter predstavili občino Ruše. Sledil je empirični del raziskave - opredelitev potenciala za turistični razvoj na podlagi pivovarne Lobik. To smo storili po opravljenih delno strukturiranih intervjujih s strokovnjaki s področja turizma in pivovarstva. Ugotovili smo, da je pivski turizem zelo širok pojem, potencial za njegov razvoj v občini Ruše pa zelo dober. Za razvoj in dopolnitev turistične ponudbe občine in turistične destinacije Maribor - Pohorje je poleg upoštevanja trajnostnih načel potrebno tudi sodelovanje z lokalnimi deležniki. To bi koristilo deležnikom, prav tako pa tudi celotni lokalni skupnosti. Na podlagi profila gastronomskega turista smo oblikovali turistični produkt, ki sledi turističnim trendom in načelom trajnostnega razvoja.Beer tourism in Slovenia is a relatively new concept. It consists of beer-related travel activities such as beer tastings, visiting breweries, and attending beer festivals. The aim of this diploma was to research the role that the Lobik Brewery would have on the beer tourism in Ruše and its surroundings. We started with researching gastronomy and continued with the history of beer brewing up until the present day. Then we researched the area of beer tourism globally and in Slovenia. Further on we wrote about the municipality of Ruše and its current tourist offer. It is followed by establishing the level of potential of developing a new tourist product. We have done that with the help of information gained through interviews with tourism stakeholders of the area and individuals working in beer industry. We have discovered that beer tourism is a very broad field and that it has big potential in the development of tourist offer in the municipality of Ruše. It is important that there is both - the cooperation of the local stakeholders and consideration of the principles of sustainability in our case of co-shaping tourist offer of Ruše and tourist destination Maribor - Pohorje. A wholesome development of beer tourism would positively affect stakeholders, as well as the local community. Considering the profile of an average gastronomic tourist and according to current trends in tourism and sustainability principles, we have designed a tourist product of beer tourism based on the Lobik Brewery