New Brunswick official touts potential for regional tourism
New Brunswick’s minister of tourism, heritage and culture told Maine chamber of commerce officials attending a two-day conference on Campobello Island that the state and the Canadian province could reap greater tourism dollars by working together collaboratively more often.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Trevor Holder told conference attendees that New Brunswick’s market of travelers is predominantly from the Boston-New York City-Philadelphia triangle. Overall, he said, the province’s tourism trade is a $1 billion-a-year industry.
“We can drive the Maine numbers up,” he said. “Maine’s got the base and the brand. We’ve got the international aspect.”
Carolann Ouellette, director of Maine’s Office of Tourism, agreed with Holder’s assessment -- noting that the state and the province have a good working relationship that could be strengthened.
Ouellette told the conference that Maine’s lodging taxable sales increased 4% in July over a year ago, with restaurant taxable sales increasing by 2.8% for the same period. State park visitorship rose 6% for July and August over the previous year and visits to Acadia National Park were up 5.3% in July compared with a year ago.
She also noted that traffic to the state’s website, www.visitmaine.com, increased 25% in July and August compared with the previous year.
Holder said both Maine and New Brunswick have a strong attraction to visitors from metropolitan regions seeking to enjoy nature as well as the region’s historic and cultural amenities.
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