Tourism office awards $1M in marketing grants to 8 groups across Maine
COURTESY / DAVID PRATT PHOTOGRAPHY
The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine opened at its new location on Thompson’s Point in 2021.
The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine received a $200,000 grant that will allow the Portland attraction to launch a multi-tiered marketing campaign to increase awareness among tourists with children.
"The economic impact of this award is threefold: It allows us to drive a marketing campaign we couldn’t have achieved on our own as a nonprofit, supports our local economy by employing top professionals and boosts tourism by positioning the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine — and Maine itself — as a premier destination for family travel,” said Shultzie Fay Willows, the organization’s marketing and communications director.
The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine was one of eight organizations across the state to receive grants, announced last week, through the Maine Office of Tourism’s Tourism Marketing and Development Recovery Program.
The program was established to help the travel and tourism industry recover from downturns caused by the pandemic, according to a news release.
Recipients selected to receive awards demonstrated their projects’ potential for long-term impact; campaigns that reach underrepresented, new and diverse communities of visitors; and the creation or improvement of tourism assets that will live on beyond the life of the grant term.
Projects must be completed by September 2025.
Downtown Ellsworth
A nonprofit organization called Heart of Ellsworth — dedicated to the economic revitalization and cultural enhancement of downtown Ellsworth — was also awarded a $200,000 grant, to enhance its marketing efforts, expand outreach initiatives and develop new tourism assets.
“This funding will play a pivotal role in establishing downtown Ellsworth as a distinct destination within Maine,” said Cara Romano, the group’s executive director. “Whether visitors explore the Bold Coast, Schoodic Peninsula or the Blue Hill/Deer Isle region, Ellsworth will be the ideal hub to stay and embark on day trips, maximizing a genuine Maine visitor experience.”
Currently, marketing consists of employing local and national free platforms while giving a lot of attention to earned media opportunities, collaborations and partnerships, Romano told Mainebiz.
“We work hard to maintain a strong online presence with regular social media and blog posts, two monthly newsletters — Community Newsletter and a business pulse newsletter, and now we are newly part of the Main Street Maine site — a joint project of Maine Downtown Center and Maine Office of Tourism that promotes Maine's 11 Main Street Communities to residents and visitors. Additionally, we do targeted marketing around events and initiatives.”
With the grant, the first step is to retain a marketing agency to help Heart of Ellsworth create a targeted marketing plan, Romano said.
“We are looking specifically to identify a qualified marketing agency that has experience working in communities that are located near the entrance to national parks,” she said. “We know this is a huge asset and part of Ellsworth's identity that has yet to be promoted. We want to ensure our tourism marketing plan addresses this geographic benefit while leaning into the authenticity that Ellsworth is a year-round downtown community.”
A goal of the project is to develop Heart of Ellsworth’s capacity to generate local tourism-related data to inform future marking choices.
“We will work with the contracted marketing agency to establish downtown specific data collection and reporting methods related to number of hours tourists spend in downtown Ellsworth and percentage of tourists who primarily stay in the Downeast and Acadia region outside of Ellsworth and encourage them to stay at least one night in Ellsworth,” Romano said.
Greater Bangor
The Greater Bangor Recreation Economy for Rural Communities — a program of the Eastern Maine Development Corp. — was awarded $195,000.
“This award will boost the local work accomplished over the last two years,” said Lee Umphrey, the corporation’s president and CEO. “By enhancing marketing and branding efforts to promote outdoor recreation and cultural tourism, we will alert our community while meeting the group’s primary goals.”
The Greater Bangor Recreation Economy for Rural Communities was formed in the spring of 2022 to implement a technical assistance grant received by the former Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The steering committee is made up of representatives from area communities with interests in developing and promoting outdoor recreation and cultural tourism, creating river access, increased community connectivity and developing collaborative partnerships.
The group developed an implementation plan through community workshops, community assessment and technical assistance. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, Northern Border Regional Commission and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The steering committee applied for funding through the Maine Office of Tourism for assistance to implement the program’s goal of promoting the area as an outdoor recreation and cultural tourism destination.
The program’s chair, Lisa Sturgeon, said the money will allow it to focus on branding and marketing the area as a destination for outdoor recreation and cultural tourism.
“We will be able to engage professionals to do the research, develop branding and create a marketing plan to promote the area as a destination for visitors and a great place to live for residents and future residents,” said Sturgeon.
To help start the market research and branding development, there will be workshops held on Oct. 24 at Husson University in Bangor.
From sports to peaks
Other award recipients are:
- Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, $93,000
- High Peaks Alliance, $92,000
- Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation, $94,500
- Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce, $70,000
- Rangeley Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce, $90,000
“These projects will further strengthen the state’s visitor economy and foster a more resilient tourism industry in Maine in the coming decades,” said Heather Johnson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
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