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V O L . X X I I N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 6 28 A cadia National Park's celebration of its 100th birthday, along with favorable weather, are two top reasons cited for a surge of visitors and business activity this past summer. Another contributing factor has been a marketing push by the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, begun four years ago with the hiring of a publicist. "It's been an outstanding season," says Fred Link, general manager at the Bar Harbor Inn, one of 13 lodging properties owned by the Witham Family Partnership, one of the two largest lodging owners in Bar Harbor. "For the Bar Harbor Inn," says Link, "room reserva- tions were up 4% to 5% compared with 2015. at's a signifi cant increase for us," as compared with the prior year increase of 1% to 2%. "I think it was combination of really positive things going on. Of course, the centennial celebration drew a lot of people coming to [Mount Desert Island] and the park. I think the perfect weather helped us out as well. And continued national exposure, both for Acadia and Bar Harbor, has done a lot as well. I think it all kind of worked together." First-time visitors were also key to the increase. "I think they heard the publicity and they wanted to come and check it out," Link says. And more people were coming from farther afi eld. Most visitors to Acadia come from the Northeast. But this year, the inn had an uptick in guests coming from the West Coast and the Southeast. Acadia has already welcomed 2.25 million visitors through the fi rst eight months of the year, up 17% from the previous year, and is on pace to top 3 million visitors for 2016, up from 2.81 million in 2015 and 2.56 million in 2015. at would be the highest tally since 1989, when Acadia had 5.44 million visitors and the park's single-highest one month visitation in recent decades, 1.04 million people in August, according to monthly records that date to 1979. Shopkeepers see gains Retailers in and around Bar Harbor reported increases in sales. "We did experience a signifi cant increase in busi- ness," says Dave Woodside, president of the Acadia Corp., which runs shops in Bar Harbor. "I attribute that to the centennial and all the publicity around that, but also to the excellent weather, and an all-around seemingly good mood. And certainly, in my experience, in election years people are more conservative in their expenditures and travel, and I've heard speculation that people might have been staying closer to home." He suggested that more people were doing driv- ing vacations, visiting nearby national parks rather than traveling abroad — a scenario that would be bolstered by the National Park Service's centennial. Enthusiasm for the centennial could be gauged, in part, by the amount of merchandise sold, which exceeded Woodside's expectations. P H O T O / L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R Centennial helps ring registers Hotels and merchants cash in on Acadia congestion B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r F O C U S THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS THERE IS Because Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Henry & Ellen Hinman Hall at Thomas College Sheridan Construction www.sheridancorp.com Fairfield Portland 207-453-9311 207-774-6138 P H O T O / L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R Fred Link, general manager of the Bar Harbor Inn, says the inn saw a signifi cant increase in room reservations this year, helped in part by the centennial of the National Park Service. Summer visitors to Acadia, 2015–16 S O U R C E : National Park Service Summer 2015 Summer 2016 0 100K 200K 300K 400K 500K 600K 700K 800K August July June

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