Time was, Maine’s tourism season pretty much ended with Labor Day Weekend. Vermont and New Hampshire claimed New England’s fall season for visitors traveling to see their brilliantly changing leaves.
No longer. Now Maine’s tourism season is also spilling into fall – all up and down the coastline.
“We took passengers out on the water through October 23 last year,” boasts Bob Pratt, captain of MORNING IN MAINE, his 55-foot schooner based in Rockland. “We are seeing a significant increase in fall trade,” says Pratt, whose customers often call last minute to book a two-hour tour.
“As long as the leaves are colorful and the weather is good we’ll get calls,” continues Pratt, who has only had to take his boat off the water once in recent years during hurricane season. “Our biggest problem would be if lots of rain knocks the leaves off the trees.” Since 1995, there has been a dramatic increase in tourism by approximately seven percent annually in the months of September and October, according to Nathaniel Bowditch, assistant director of the Maine Office of Tourism.
Why? More money spent on national marketing is a major factor in this new trend. In 1995, the state legislature doubled the budget for the Maine Office of Tourism, from $2 million to $4 million. Then in 2001, this budget increased to $6.8 million, allocated for fiscal year July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003 ($500,000 of which was already spent last spring). “We now receive five percent of the seven percent meals and lodging tax,” explains Bowditch. Money goes to everything from brochures to visitors’ bureaus, from public relations to advertising. In another marketing move, the Maine Office of Tourism has changed its focus away from print to television advertising, with increased emphasis on the fall season, adds Bowditch.
Maine in the fall has become especially popular with the “empty nesters,” tourists whose children are grown, and individual travelers who prefer the fall when the crush of family visitors have gone home. Aside from the natural beauty of this season, the pace is slower – all the better to enjoy an acclaimed restaurant in Portland or a drive along the little towns of the shoreline, in search of the perfect antique and a lovely night’s stay in a charming bed-and-breakfast. “For the past five years we have definitely seen an increase of motorcoach tours and individual tours, with room occupancy also steadily increasing,” notes Barbara Whitten, president of the Greater Portland Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Maine now competes with Vermont for fall foliage season, and because of the coastal effect, our leaves stay greener a bit longer,” claims Whitten. “The leaves begin changing color in northern Maine in late August, and the season ends by early November in southern Maine.”
Bar Harbor is even seeing its tourist season expanding through early December, thanks in part to art shows, marathons and other planned special events, according to Claire Wood, executive director of the town’s chamber of commerce. “In the past five years, the number of visitors has increased by 30 percent from September through early December,” says Wood.
The big cruise ships that visit the coast are also running further into the fall. This year, Portland is expecting its last fall cruise ship to dock on Oct. 31. Cruise ships bring big day-trippers.
Yet some things just will not change. Mike and Lynn McHenry will haul out their 95-foot schooner, ANGELIQUE, docked in Camden, on Oct. 6 this year after a full season of four-, five- and six-day trips around Penobscot Bay, from Rockland to Acadia. “It gets cold out there by then,” explains Lynn McHenry. “And it is time for the boat to be laid up for the winter.”