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V O L . X X V N O. X I M AY 2 7 , 2 0 1 9 6 Wedding bells ring registers in Maine It's wedding season and a new report shows couples and their invitees are contributing $937 million to the Maine economy. e "Marry ME" report, created by the Maine Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Southern Maine, says direct spending on weddings totaled $205.9 million and supported 13,600 jobs in 2017. Much of the overall impact came from hotel, restaurant retail spending by wedding guests. Overnight visitors spent $345 million at Maine businesses during their stays. Taxes from weddings and wedding visitors contributed $40 million locally and $32 million to state coffers. Historically low unemployment continues e Maine Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released April workforce estimates for Maine that show the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate estimate for April of 3.3% is little changed from March (3.4%) and April 2018 (3.3%). e number of unemployed, 23,100, is also little changed. Maine's unem- ployment rate has been below 4% for 40 consecutive months, the longest period on record. e U.S. preliminary unemployment rate of 3.6% for April was down from 3.8% for March and 3.9% one year ago. e New England unemployment rate estimate for April was 3.1%, with New Hampshire 2.4%, Vermont 2.2%, Massachusetts 2.9%, Rhode Island 3.7% and Connecticut 3.8%. Unemployment was lowest in Cumberland and Sagadahoc coun- ties (2.7%) and highest in Washington County (6.1%). e unemployment rate was below the statewide average in all three metro areas: Portland-South Portland (2.7%), Lewiston-Auburn (3.2%) and Bangor (3.4%). NEA splits $1M among 10 Maine arts groups e National Endowment for the Arts has awarded 10 grants totaling $981,800 to Maine arts-and-cultural organiza- tions. Of that, $756,800 will go to the Maine Arts Commission to support arts programs, services and activities. Others receiving grants: Engine Inc., Biddeford, $45,000; Points North Institute (Camden International Film Festival), Camden, $25,000; Haystack Mountain B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E As the cruise ship season starts, congestion battle heats up B Y L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R BAR HARBOR — The port of Bar Harbor expects the arrival of 177 ships carrying 275,198 passengers for the 2019 season. Compared to last year, the ship number is down slightly from 180 scheduled visits, but the passenger number is up significantly from 230,000. Bar Harbor is Maine's busiest port, with the number of cruise ships generally trending upward over the past two decades. The industry is viewed by many local residents as an economic driver. But it also sparks concerns about traffic congestion. The town's capacity to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers was raised anew at the Bar Harbor Town Council's May 7 meeting. "One of the byproducts with the cruise ship industry is the busing industry and the movement industry of these people," said Councilor Joe Minutolo. "And it's changed the complexion of [Acadia National Park] in so many ways, especially in the fringe part of the season." What is 'maximum capacity'? Capacity has been a recurring theme over the years. "That's an issue we need to grab hold of," Minutolo said. "We're recognized as a huge cruise ship port. There's a lot of people in this town, and a lot of people in the park and a lot of visitors who are concerned about how deep we're going. Will this ever be looked at?" Minutolo said that the town's ferry terminal advisory committee, in discussions over recent years, "felt 179,000 seemed to be capacity." Cruise Ship Committee chairman Eben Salvatore said his committee reviews the question annually. "In 10 years, we've asked for two discretionary increases" of passenger numbers, Salvatore said. Minutolo said he was more concerned about per-day counts, rather than per-year. "When you have three ships in the harbor, and all these buses and all this movement, the park can be a pretty unplea- sureable place to get around," Minutolo said. "Are we ever going to talk about what it's like when we have maximum capacity and maximum movement and maybe rethink these numbers?" "The ferry terminal committee thought perhaps the tipping point was 179,000," said Councilor Judy Noonan. This year we're expecting 275,109. That's 100,000 more people." More ship passengers means more tour bus and taxi traffic, as passengers make their way into Acadia. "I understand we look at the caps every year, but I think we need to look at the whole picture from a seasonal stand- point, and not just daily caps," Noonan said. But the council's vice-chairman, Matthew Hochman, noted that cruise ship visitors make up only part of the overall visi- tor numbers. Last year, Acadia National Park alone hosted 3.5 million visitors, according to the National Park Service. That does not include people who only visited Bar Harbor or the other area attractions. "So do we look at capping land-based visitors as well?" Hochman said. "Where do we draw the line? Where do we say that one way to get here is good and one way is bad?" Hochman noted that the arrival of visitors via cruise ships at least means they aren't bringing along vehicles "and clog- ging our streets." P H O T O / L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R B R I E F Bar Harbor is debating how many cruise ship passengers it can handle during the season. The Queen Victoria in the Bar Harbor port. Do we look at capping land- based visitors asa well? Where do we draw the line? — Matthew Hochman Bar Harbor Town Council

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