Maine Tourism Advisory Committee

1
Maine Tourism Advisory Committee

• Funding Resources
• CenTRO Workplan

2
CenTRO Management Philosophies

• Complement Maines Existing Tourism Assets While
  Addressing Unmet Industry Need
• Maines Tourism assets
• Maine Office of Tourism
• Marketing Research Supplier Longwoods
  International
• Advertising Agency Warren Kremer Paino
• Nancy Marshall Communications
• Address Important Unaddressed Need
• Systematic Approach to New Product Development
• Systematic Monitoring of Product Quality
• Economic Impact of Tourism by Region by Season
• Understanding the Value of Tourism Jobs
• Assist Tourism Strategic Planning
• Assist Local Tourism Economic Development

Product Tourist Experience
3
Current Projects by Issues Addressed

• State National Resources for Maine Tourism
  Industry
• Industry Web Site
• Higher Education for Tourism
• Tourism Certificate
• Economic Impact of Tourism in Maine
• Property Tax Contribution of the Hospitality
  Industry (4.58)
• Statewide Hospitality Inventory
• Overnight Guest Survey (4.75)
• Supporting Tourism Entrepreneurs
• Tourism Risk Management Seminars

• Tourism Forecasting Tools
• Short term forecasting model
• Annual Outlook Conference (4.92)
• November 10, 2006
• Tourism Labor Supply Compensation
• Employment and Workforce Profile (4.42)
• Measuring Tourism Experience/Service Quality
• Pilot Test Customer Satisfaction Tracking
  Program (4.42)
• Tourism RD
• An Investigation of the Market for a Maine North
  Woods Ecotourism Resort

Average agreement rating (5 pt scale) regarding
value to Maine tourism (MaineTAC 5-2006)
4
Class A Deliverables
A-1. Establish offerings at UMS campuses and
outreach centers to improve and enhance higher
education opportunities in tourism-related
programs. Tourism Certificate at Hutchinson
Center in Belfast A-2. Establish a Web site that
allows Maines tourism businesses to access
existing tourism business resources from Maine,
the northeast and nationally for business
planning and marketing. DONE A-3. Identify
additional analyses that can be conducted using
the Longwoods data to support Maines tourism
industry. IN PROCESS
5
Class A Deliverables (cont.)
A-3. Evaluate existing state and national data
sources to identify how CenTRO can provide
improved reporting and additional analyses for
tourism planning and marketing SF A-4. Conduct a
comprehensive inventory of Maines
tourism-related businesses and examine
differences across tourism regions. SF
A-5. Prepare short term forecasts for seasonal
tourist activity based on economic conditions.
DONE
SF Seeking Funding
6
Class B Deliverables
B-1. Conduct a tourism market evaluation and
segmentation study from the customers
perspective to enhance tourism planning and
marketing efforts by the State, regions,
communities and individual businesses. Pilot Test
Reported Fall 2005 TAC Meeting B-2. Survey
Maine residents attitudes and opinions on
tourism within Maine, as well as their
interactions with the industry. SF B-3. Develop
short courses to enhance the skills of tourism
and hospitality workers in Maine. DUPLICATES
COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SERVICES, WORK SHOPS ON
TOURISM RISK MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPMENT B-4. Condu
ct a market evaluation of the demand for
conferences and conventions that would attract
1,000 to 3,000 attendees to Maine. SF
SF Seeking Funding
7
Class C Deliverables
C-1. Establish a program with Maines Tourism
Office to monitor Maines tourism industry on a
weekly, monthly and seasonal basis, and develop a
reporting system to communicate this information
to Maines tourism industry through the Web site
and semi-annual workshops. SF C-2. Develop a
program in cooperation with the Maine Department
of Economic and Community Development to select
three Maine communities each year to assess their
competitive advantages and weakness for tourism
development, and to develop tourism plans as part
of their community development strategies. WOULD
THIS MAKE MORE SENSE AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL?
SF Seeking Funding
8
Class C Deliverables (Cont.)
C-3. Conduct an analysis of best management
practices for identifying and mitigating the
impacts of tourism on communities and conduct
workshops for local planners and economic
developers on tourism-related planning.
SF C-4. Economic impact studies. Conduct
economic impact studies of tourism related
development at the regional and state level.
SF C-5. Compensation and Employment Practices in
the Tourism Industry. Using public data and
original surveys identify benchmark compensation
levels and employment practices for firms in the
tourism industry. PARTLY ADDRESSED BY THE
TOURISM LABOR FORCE PROFILE
SF Seeking Funding
9
Unaddressed Areas

• Eco-Tourism
• Who are eco-tourists?
• What do they expect?
• Hospitality Industry
• Lodging
• Dining
• Attractions
• Creative Economy (This is difficult to
  conceptualize)
• To what extent does tourism in Maine attract new
  residents?
• Environmental Impact of Tourism in Maine
• Tourism Indicators

• Regional Differences in Maine Tourism
• What attracts tourists to each region?
• Who is attracted to visit each region?
• What barriers discourage travel to each region?
• Continuing Evaluation of MTMPP Grants
• Tourism Attractions
• Maine State Parks Cultural Heritage Sites

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Possible Research Projects

• Regional Tourism Opportunities and Barriers
• What uniquely attracts visitors to each region in
  each season?
• What discourages travel to each region in each
  season?
• Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods
• Regional Tracking Evaluation of MTMPP Grant
  Performance
• System is being planned
• Cost Estimate in Preparation
• Tourism RD Literature Scanning
• What new product ideas are worthy of testing in
  Maine?
• Eco-Tourism
• Investigate reactions of Maines tourism markets
  to a range of products regarded as eco-tourism
  resorts and experiences
• Creative Economy
• TBD

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Possible Outreach Projects

• Eco-Tourism Advisory Panel
• Panel of Faculty
• Environmental Researchers
• How to avoid environmental impacts
• Economists
• Value for communities, state
• Business
• How to capitalize on the business proposition
• Parks, Recreation Tourism
• Eco-tourism Product