Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 M AY 1 , 2 0 2 3 F O C U S H O S P I TA L I T Y / T O U R I S M Results of the "Maine Meetings" campaign so far include 2 million impressions and 17,775 clicks on tar- geted Facebook ads, and 3.3 million impressions and 11,000 clicks on Google Ads. But selling Maine as a meeting destination is no easy task for Visit Portland, a membership-funded organization that downsized from 11 people pre-pan- demic to four today, including Tillotson. And while she believes the pitch would be easier were there an actual convention center, she has no expectations of that hap- pening anytime soon — putting Portland at a disad- vantage not just to bigger cities, but also to regional peers like Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R.I. Bullish nevertheless, Tillotson says, "One of the biggest selling points about Maine is that it's Maine … Maine drives attendance, and that really helps with what we call 'bleisure' events — business plus leisure." Similarly, Maine Office of Tourism Director Steve Lyons says it makes sense for Maine to focus on smaller meetings, even for as few as 15 to 20 attendees. "It does give some economic impact to some of those smaller communities that might be able to attract these smaller groups," he says. at's not to say that Maine can't host larger events, like last year's National Governors Association three- day summer meeting in Portland. On food and drinks alone, 1,200 attendees spent close to $450,000 during their stay, and the overall economic impact was $4.2 million. Gov. Janet Mills, who lobbied to bring the event to Maine for the first time since 1983, hosted events including a lobster buffet dinner with live enter- tainment at Cape Elizabeth's Fort Williams Park. "We outdid ourselves last year," Mills remarked when accepting Visit Portland's "Meet in Maine" award last month for her efforts.. "We fought to get this [event] back here." As much as Visit Portland would like to attract more gatherings of that scale to the state, the focus is on smaller conferences as convention tourism picks up. Coming attractions Among 2023's coming attractions, one — an inter- national aquaculture conference in September called Seagriculture USA — will be in Maine for the second time. Last year's two-day debut in Portland brought 150 overnight attendees who spent $50,000 plus on lodging alone. While attendees come from all over the world, around 60% are from Portland, says Kuno Jacobs, managing director of DLG Benelux, the Netherlands- based conference organizer. "For our specific audience," he says, "being close to where the action is, is crucial. He also notes that despite Portland's relatively small size, "the city exudes a cosmopolitan atmo- sphere and provides exceptional cruise and sightsee- ing opportunities." While the group has a conference in Europe in a different country every year, it aims to create a solid foundation before expanding to other locations on this side of the Atlantic. Making its Maine debut this year is the Adventure Travel Trade Association's AdventureELEVATE from May 8-11. e education and networking conference, tak- ing place at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland, kicks off with a day of outdoor excursions in the Portland area and the southern coast—most of which sold out early. "e ATTA is thrilled to be able to come to Maine," says Russell Walters, the Kingfield-based North America regional director for the global group who also runs the Northern Outdoors resort in the Forks. "It's been on the radar for a long time, and I'm excited to see 300 of the leaders of outdoor active adventure travel come to Maine and experience it and hopefully come back and bring their guests." Auburn, Augusta and Westbrook Outside of Portland, some cities are pro-actively seek- ing to attract meetings. Auburn, for example, is taking a two-pronged approach, says Mayor Jason Levesque. e first is to make use of Norway Savings Bank Ice Arena to attract trade fairs such as the annual Maine Home Show and Vacationland RV shows recently held in the 24,000-population Androscoggin County city. As the state's only ice arena with two rinks, either can easily be removed for a trade show without cutting into too much ice time. "e second approach we are working on is to bring large sports tourism events at the NCAA level to Auburn," says Levesque. e city recently landed its first coup on that front, as host of the collegiate roller-hockey championships in April 2024. Levesque estimates that the event could have an economic impact of $2.4 million. Levesque is keen to bring other college sports events to Auburn, saying, "Once you get the first one and you have a great review, the other ones start chasing you. e first one is always the most difficult." He also notes that the centrally located Hilton Garden Inn Riverwatch hotel hosts a number of smaller in-state conventions to trade groups of all types. "One limiting factor is hotel space," he says. "Ours are packed all the time, which leaves little room to absorb the influx of visitors a large convention would draw." In Maine's capital city, the strategy is to promote the Augusta Civic Center as central Maine's premier venue for sports, entertainment, conferences and conventions. Built in 1973, the 49,000-square-foot, 5,000-capacity venue houses a main auditorium, two ballrooms, 23 flexible-capacity rooms and full cater- ing services. Proximity to I-95 and nearly 1,000 area hotel rooms are also big pluses. "e city is committed to continuing to provide a quality visitor experience" says Keith Luke, Augusta's economic development director. e first thing he tells an out-of-state group seeking a meeting space in that city: "e Augusta Civic Center continues to be your best choice in central Maine for meetings, conventions and trade shows — only an hour from Portland, Bangor and Maine's popular midcoast destinations." And in Westbrook, where Waterstone Properties Group aims to have an event center built at the Rock Row mixed-use development by 2027. Mayor Michael Foley says a venue like that "would be a tremendous benefit to the state and region with the attraction of large events that we normally cannot even support today." Longer term, the hope is that Maine employers will stay in state for larger corporate gatherings. "Large companies in our region like WEX and IDEXX are required to leave the state for such conventions," Foley says, "and hopefully someday we could host them right here in Westbrook." at also happens to be the home of the Maine Bankers Association. Renee Cordes, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s Russell Walters is the North America regional director for the Adventure Travel Tourism Association and president of the Northern Outdoors resort in The Forks. P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R I'm excited to see 300 of the leaders of outdoor active adventure travel come to Maine and experience it. — Russell Walters Adventure Travel Trade Association

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