Lodging Sales by Region

Southern Maine – $182.5 million

Cumberland – $122.5 million

Eastern Maine – $85 million

Midcoast – $77.2 million

Penobscot – $44.4 million

Androscoggin – $40.9 million

Kennebec – $29.5 million

Northern Maine – $10.6 million

Based on Maine Revenue Service reports on taxable lodging sales for all of 2006.

The sun’s been shining, the price of gasoline isn’t as high as people feared and the Canadian dollar is about on par with the United States, making Maine more affordable for its neighbors to the north.

Add in the free worldwide publicity of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kennebunkport and the 5,000 soccer kids, who came with their moms and dads from all along the Atlantic Coast for the regional championships in Falmouth, Portland and Brunswick – some of whom were expected to extend their stay and travel the state through the July 4th holiday.

And, it just doesn’t get much better for the kickoff of high season for summer tourism in Maine.

“Everything I hear is everybody is optimistic about this season,” said Pat Eltman, the new head of the state’s Office of Tourism. “If the weather keeps up, even better.”

The state has been stuck with sluggish visitor numbers in recent years, but this year feels better so far, said Greg Dugal, head of the Maine Innkeepers Association.

“The golden six, mid-July to mid-August, looks great,” in terms of advance bookings, he said, and that hasn’t happened since 2001.

“Fall reservations are really looking very good as well,” Dugal said. “It’s really shaping up to be a barn burner.”

While optimism will face reality as the season unfolds, early indicators are good.

Visits to Acadia National Park were up 4.5 percent through the end of May this year over last and visits to the state’s official tourism Web site were up 11 percent in the same time period.

Traffic on the Maine Turnpike over the Memorial Day weekend was up 1.5 percent over last year. And Turnpike officials are predicting an increase of as much as 6 percent this week with July 4th right in the middle. Overall, the state’s Center for Tourism Research and Outreach (CENTRO) is predicting Turnpike traffic to grow by about 1.8 percent in July and 1.5 percent in August over 2006.

“Fuel prices never got as ugly as people told us they were,” said Vaughn Stinson, head of the Maine Tourism Association – important since Maine is a place most people drive to instead of fly.

According to the state’s latest visitor survey, 71 percent of the people who visit Maine use their own cars to get here versus the national average of 62 percent.

Tourism officials would like to see more people come in by plane because air travelers don’t change their plans as readily as drivers when the weather changes.

Travel into Portland Jetport was up more than 20 percent in the first quarter of this year, and Stinson hopes the addition of two lower-fair carriers in Portland will help boost tourism.

“A real boon for us is having JetBlue in town and AirTran starting their service as well,” Stinson said, pointing out that AirTran has three daily flights coming in from the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area.

Overall the picture is getting better, Stinson said, because those involved with tourism in Maine have been doing their work.

“What we’ve been doing is tilling the soil,” he said, and getting the state to increase its tourism budget, which has gone from $4.5 million in 2001 to more than $8.5 million starting July 1 – a $1 million increase over last year.

Eltman, appointed as Maine’s tourism director in January, wants to expand the state’s marketing reach beyond the traditional and still all-important core of neighboring New England states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Washington, D.C. area.

More marketing will be done in Canada, which according to Dugal of the Innkeepers Association is already sending more people Maine’s way, largely because of the improved exchange rate. On Sunday it was 94 cents to the U.S. dollar.

“We want to take advantage of that,” said Steve Lyons, who was just named marketing director of the state’s tourism office. “People are likely to be more willing to travel now that their money’s worth more.”

Lyons said surveys show the state is also drawing from California, Texas and Florida at higher numbers than would be expected, after taking into account that those are population centers.

The state would like to invest in those emerging markets, but the key driver will be the state’s overall tourism budget. Like others before him, Lyons said there is not enough money in the budget, especially when compared to other states.

Maine ranked 37th in terms of the size of its tourism budget last year. Hawaii, by comparison, ranked number 1, spending $70 million; Pennsylvania ranked second, spending more than $64 million; and, Illinois ranked third spending close to $49 million.

“In reality, that’s how you compete,” Lyons said.