Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 M AY 3 , 2 0 2 1 H O S P I TA L I T Y / T O U R I S M T ony Cameron can remem- ber the moment when things started looking up for Maine's tourism and hospitality industries, battered by a year of pandemic restric- tions and lost business. It was March 5, when the state announced a timeline easing out-of- state visitor and capacity limits. "at timeline for lifting restric- tions was a huge game-changer," Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, says. After a year of uncertainty, poten- tial visitors to Maine could finally make plans. "It is incredibly important," he says. "It's one of the things that's had the biggest impact on how things will go this summer." A survey the Maine Tourism Association did a week after the March 5 announcement found the majority of members were optimistic about this year's tourist season — 69% said Maine tourism will do signifi- cantly better this year than last and will start to recover from the pan- demic and 67% said their business is in the process of recovering. About three-quarters said that most potential visitors were asking about Maine's vaccination, quarantine and testing requirements. e March 5 announcement gave business owners the information to answer. Cameron says the push of the last couple years to bring new visitors to that state made that even more important. "We want to make sure Maine was on their list," he says. "So, all that stuff really needed to get answered." He and Matt Lewis, CEO of HospitalityMaine, say the industry has seen the results in the past couple of months. "Every indication we're getting is that summer is going to be busy for Maine," Lewis says. F O C U S C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, says members are gearing up for a very busy summer. P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R That timeline for lifting restrictions was a huge game-changer. It's one of the things that's had the biggest impact on how things will go this summer. — Tony Cameron Maine Tourism Association FORECAST: Summer HOT will be US travelers are looking for wide open spaces, outdoor dining — and indications are Maine is the destination B y M a u r e e n M i L L i k e n

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