With the leaves beginning to turn, Maine businesses that cater to tourists are shifting their focus from peak occupancy to peak color. Looking back at the June-through-August season, the consensus seems to be that business has been about like last year, or maybe a bit better.
According to the Maine Office of Tourism’s 2023 Summer Visitor Tracking Report, there were 8,537,000 visitors to Maine last summer.
In the course of 42,380,000 visitor days, their direct spending totaled $5.1 billion.
• 30% were from New England
• 23% from the Mid-Atlantic states
• 6% from Canada
• 2% from other countries
• and the balance from the rest of the U.S. The Office of Tourism has not yet released 2024 data.
On Aug. 28, the Maine Turnpike Authority posted on its website a prediction that there would be 1.1 million transactions on the Maine Turnpike from Friday to Monday of Labor Day weekend, up 0.9% from 2023.
Several coastal businesses have reported similar trends this summer.
Jillian Bedell, marketing manager for the Craignair Inn, said, “It was a busy summer here at the Craignair.”
The Inn, owned by Greg and Lauren Soutiea, is located in Spruce Head, just south of Rockland. They’ve lodged “a lot of French Canadians this summer, but the bulk of our visitors are from New England,” Bedell said.
“Guests are saying it’s so darn hot in Florida, Georgia, Texas…”
She noted that in addition to the inn being a destination in itself, “We’re a point on the way. Folks are eager to get outside.”
For some, the climate plays a role in the decision to come to Maine.
“Guests are saying it’s so darn hot in Florida, Georgia, Texas. I get more guests wondering if there are more places to go… scoping out Maine for the future.”
For many seasonal businesses, finding workers has been difficult in recent years—in part because housing is so expensive. The Craignair Inn’s owners have mitigated that problem by purchasing property that they rent to staff at below market rates.
Said Bedell, “We’ve been lucky and we’ve been smart. Retention is high here.” Providing affordable housing is part of the reason. “We don’t want to lose the younger demographic,” she said.
Amity Chipman of Chipman’s Wharf in Milbridge said their business has been steady, too.
Chipman’s is a seafood market and lunch grill founded by Chris and Jason Chipman, both of whom are lobster fishermen.
“I think we’ve had as much traffic, probably a little more than last year,” Amity Chipman said.
Some things have changed compared to prior years, however.
“There are fewer families—smaller parties. What people have been spending has been down. People are mindful of what they’ve been spending,” she said.
Also, Chipman’s has seen more international travelers in recent years, she noted. “We do have several people who come from the U.K., Canada, Asian populations.”
Especially since COVID, Chipman said.
“We’ve finally been discovered. Bar Harbor is so busy, people are staying here and traveling to the islands. A lot of people are staying here and traveling through and going to Lubec.”
She said that the increase in Airbnb and other such short-term rentals in the area has helped. With no large hotels in the Milbridge area, having the Airbnb option enables people to “come to the seafood market and go back and cook it themselves,” which saves customers money versus driving to a restaurant and eating out.
Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Everal Eaton, too, spoke of the summer of 2024 as on par with recent seasons.
“It started slow but picked up. Talking to a lot of our lodging facilities, they are looking at a strong year,” Eaton said.
Visitors come “from all over at different times of year,” he said. “A lot of national and a little bit of international.” Their reasons range from a desire to eat lobster and visit Acadia National Park to simply seeing “the picturesque view of the town.”
Debbie Hoverson of Searsport Shores Campground said this summer has been “good but less busy. Nobody knows why. Election year? The economy?”
Searsport Shores, owned by Astrid and Steve Tanquay, is an oceanfront campground located on Route 1 in Searsport. Most of their clientele lives within four or five hours of Maine.
“A lot of New England people—Boston, Vermont—but also people from Michigan, Indiana,” Hoverson said.
They come, Hoverson said, “Because of this park. It’s a very unique campground. It’s got art, nature. People tell us, ‘This is the best site that I’ve ever been at.’”
Moderate this season may have been, but there is still leaf peeping ahead—and the prognosis is good.
“This summer was one for the record books! An abundance of daily sunshine with just the right amount of rainfall has set the stage for a breathtaking foliage season,” according to Gale Ross, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Coastal Maine’s colors are expected to peak in mid to late October.
Acadia is still an economic driver
A new National Park Service report shows that 3.8 million visitors to Acadia National Park in 2023 spent $475 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 6,600 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $685 million.
“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”
“People come to Acadia National Park to experience the beauty of its amazing landscape and recreate on its historic carriage roads and hiking trails,” said Superintendent Kevin Schneider. “We’re proud that Acadia National Park not only offers visitors an extraordinary experiences but significantly supports local businesses.
The National Park Service report, 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that 325.5 million visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks. This spending supported 415,400 jobs, provided $19.4 billion in labor income and $55.6 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy. The lodging sector had the highest direct contributions with $9.9 billion in economic output and 89,200 jobs. The restaurants received the next greatest direct contributions with $5.2 billion in economic output and 68,600 jobs.
