The August 2017 Solar Eclipse demonstrated that people will travel to see this awe-inspiring natural phenomenon in its totality. The next American solar eclipse will be on April 8, 2024. In that year, the path of the total eclipse will pass directly over central and northern Maine.

 It’s not too early to start planning how you will use this opportunity to create an experience that will bring visitors to your business or destination.

The Maine Office of Tourism’s fall television campaign is now running nationally on ATT and Comcast cable networks. The campaign began on 8/14 and is scheduled to run until 9/24 with the focus of getting people to request the state tourism brochure, Maine Invites You.  Ads are currently running on the following networks: Animal Planet, CNBC, Discovery, ESPN2, ESPN, Food, FX, HGTV, History, Travel, USA.

The 2017 campaign creative materials can be viewed at VisitMaine.com.

Destination NEXT

Would you like to help shape the future of tourism in your region?

The Maine Office of Tourism is working with Destinations International and Maine’s eight regional marketing organizations to explore their tourism destination strength and level of community engagement. Each region will receive an individualized report outlining strengths and areas that need more focus; and MOT will receive a statewide report as the result of this work.

The review process includes regional meetings with community stakeholders, and an online survey.

In April 2017, the review team visited the Maine Lakes & Mountains, Greater Portland, Kennebec Valley, and Maine Highlands tourism regions; in October, the team will visit and survey the other four regions - The Beaches, Mid-Coast, Aroostook, Downeast-Acadia.

As industry stakeholders, we need your input! Please take the online survey and give us your assessment of your region at http://sgiz.mobi/s3/DestinationNEXT-Assessment-Maine

For 2017-2018, Discover New England has launched an enhanced Valued Partner Program. DNE has made significant enhancements to both the Gold and Silver levels, and this year they have added a Bronze level.

Research indicates international travelers stay longer and spend more money when traveling. During the past four years, overseas arrivals in New England have experienced consistent growth. We encourage Maine businesses interested in the international market to consider becoming part of the program.

If you have any additional questions, please contact Lori Harnois at info@discovernewengland.org.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce and Thomas College are partnering to offer the Maine Cyber Safety Summit in three Maine locations in September. The meetings will address issues related to cybersecurity and how to safeguard your information. Presentations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Homeland Security, Maine Emergency Management Agency, InfraGard, and the Thomas Security Center will offer information regarding how to be proactive in protecting your information and how to respond to digital threats. 

The National Park Service is seeking proposals to lease the historic Blue Duck Ships Store within Acadia National Park.  The Blue Duck Ships Store, also known as the Hadlock Store, is located on Islesford, or Little Cranberry Island, in the Town of the Cranberry Isles, Maine. The RFP and details associated with building, terms of the lease and other details are available online.