BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine — The numbers are impressive. According to the Maine Office of Tourism, 8.5 million tourists made overnight trips in Maine last year and spent more than $9 billion dollars. The overall impact to Maine’s economy was estimated at $16 billion.
While the number of visitors was actually down slightly from 2022, those tourists last year stayed more nights and spent more money.
"We have seen an increase in length of stay and an increase in spending," Carolann Ouellette, the director of the Office of Tourism, said. "So it's not always about getting more visitors, but [about] how the visitor spends time in Maine."
Ouellette recently stepped into that role after working for 16 years in the department, most recently as director of the Office of Outdoor Recreation. She took over from longtime state tourism director Steve Lyons, who has become director of the Maine Film Office.
Both say Maine's tourism industry is doing well because so many people want to vacation in the Pine Tree State. The Office of Tourism and the private businesses that make up the industry have been able to learn how to take advantage of changes in how the tourism market works.
"I think the biggest change I've seen is how you're targeting people and how you're marketing to people," Lyons said while he and Ouellette sat on the deck at Brown’s Wharf in Boothbay Harbor, overlooking the boat docks.
"It used to be, you take an ad in the paper, on TV or radio, then people see it and you hope they come to visit. The number-one way people [now] get information for travel is from friends and relatives. So a lot comes from social media, a lot comes from just saying, 'Hey, I heard you went here, I want to go to Maine too.'"
Lyons says the state and the industry work with data experts to collect information on where travelers are coming from and where they are choosing to go. Surveys and other methods help show the activities they prefer, how long they stay, and other factors. All of that, Lyons says, is helping refine marketing efforts to more precisely target particular age age groups and focus promotional efforts in certain parts of the country.
At the same time, tourism leaders say visitors are coming to Maine for far more than eating lobster or seeing moose and lighthouses. Those things still matter, Ouellette says, but many modern tourists are looking for more.
"I think the cultural vibrancy we have seen growing across the state has a lot to do with that," Ouellete commented. "The idea there is quite a bit of arts and culture and social heritage in that mix, and layer food on top of that. And certainly for younger people, that whole notion of the foodie scene, micro-breweries and distilleries, start adding and layering over those parts and pieces."
Both say those attractions also are helping lure visitors to smaller communities, sometimes away from the tourism mainstream.
"Travel with a purpose," Lyons calls it. "They really want to go to a small community where you can go to a shop and talk to the owner, or go to a small restaurant or small business [and talk with the owners]."
Lyons says as more people seek out those experiences, the challenge for the state's destination management plan will be to help communities and businesses be ready to deal with increasing numbers of visitors so those places don't lose the essence of what makes them appealing.
Helping communities balance visitation with quality of life, both say, will be an ongoing effort together with encouraging people to visit Maine.
"Because if you ask someone from New York City if its busy, they might say it's not too bad. But if you ask someone who lives here year round, they might say, 'Oh, it's crazy around here.'"
It's an indicator of why tourism continues to be arguably Maine's biggest business.