Region readies for stronger 2010 tourism season
Some Bangor area business owners who attended the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Augusta earlier this month left feeling much better about the upcoming 2010 season after they learned about the state's new advertising campaign.
"I think the state plan they unveiled at the show was outstanding," says Don Haggett, sales director of Bangor-based Lafayette Hotels.
Kerrie Tripp, executive director of the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau, says she also liked the state's new marketing campaign because it will direct more people to the Maine Office of Tourism's web site, www.visitmaine.com.
Once there, she says visitors can peruse links to the state's eight tourism regions, including Bangor and the Maine Highlands region. She is encouraged about the upcoming tourism season because inquiries for travel packets from the Bangor region are up from last year.
Tripp says her office has received 50 more requests for packets from October to December and inquiries for packets for the month of January are 100 higher than they were in January 2009.
Haggett and Tripp were among the nearly 400 business people and regional tourism officials who attended the annual conference. "I thought it was very well thought out and very well developed," says Haggett, whose company owns and operates 25 hotels, including the Fireside Inn & Suites and Best Western Whitehouse Inn in Bangor, along with the Black Bear Inn in Orono.
The ads unveiled at the conference carried slogans such as "From fish stories to lobster tails," "Island hopping meets boutique shopping," and "A dazzling display of art and nature." Each ad is also designed to get a would-be traveler to log onto the state tourism office's web site to learn more about different travel packages, special deals or to request a travel planner.
The ad campaign includes television commercials on national cable and in the Boston and New York markets. It also includes video-on-demand channels in eastern Massachusetts. Print ads will also run in publications such as Audubon, Fly Fisherman and The Cultural Traveler.
State tourism officials believe the marketing campaign designed by Swardlick Marketing Group in Portland will give the state a better tourism season in 2010, boosting an industry that generates $10 billion to $12 billion annually and provides up to 176,000 jobs.
The Bangor region has a great deal to offer visitors because of its close proximity to Baxter State Park, Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, and Moosehead Lake, Haggett says. The addition of the Hollywood Slots & Raceway on Main Street, which offers 1,000 slot machines, dining, entertainment and lodging, is also a big draw for visitors.
He says the new racino has allowed his company to fill up the 51 rooms at the Fireside Inn & Suites and the 77 rooms at the Best Western Whitehouse Inn on a regular basis.
Tripp agreed, saying the racino has been a huge boost for the Bangor tourism industry because it brings visitors to the city and the region year-round. "I think we all benefit from something like a Hollywood Slots."
The city also boasts plenty of shopping with the Bangor Mall, the second largest mall in Maine, along with plenty of restaurants, she says. Canadian visitors from Quebec and New Brunswick provinces continue to do a lot of shopping there each year, she says.
Bangor area tourism officials are hoping these draws will make this season better than the last. Overall, Tripp says tourism was down in the Bangor region as it was statewide in 2009. Mainebiz reported in November that occupancy rates as of September 2009 were down 8.3% and revenue per room was down 11.6% compared with 2008. Hospitality related sales tax revenue was also down 10% to 12% in the summer 2009.
Tripp is optimistic 2010 will be better for Bangor region businesses. "Last year was a really tough year for a lot of people."
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