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Maine Tourism opposes tiny lodging tax increase, but visitors won’t care
DestinationsThe most recent $6.3 billion Maine biennial budget proposal would fill at least some of the cuts proposed by Gov. Paul LePage by temporarily increasing sales, lodging and meal taxes. That would create millions of dollars of additional revenue, but what would it mean for tourism in vacationland? A little perspective: The proposed tax increases [...]
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Maine senators say border crossing fee would slow Canadian tourism
DestinationsMaine’s two senators are joining other members of Congress in opposing border crossing fee along the northern and southwestern borders. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and independent Sen. Angus King, along with a bipartisan group of other senators, sent a letter Friday expressing their concerns about the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to study [...]
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Portland, Maine searches for a tourism slogan that pops
Destinations“What happens here, stays here” works for Vegas. And visitors have been enthusiastically buying “I love New York” souvenirs for years. Now Portland is trying to find a way to make itself just as memorable. The city plans to introduce a branding campaign soon that Mayor Michael Brennan promises “will put Portland on the map.” [...]
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Five drivers in Maine who trust a GPS more than their eyes
TransportPolice say a motorist following GPS directions took a road less traveled and ended up having to be rescued after his car became submerged in water. Officials say the motorist had to climb on top of his 2005 Pontiac Grand Am to await rescue by the Lebanon Rescue Department Friday morning. Lebanon Rescue Crew Chief [...]
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The one type of traveler that loves national park budget cuts
DestinationsThe local business community is not thrilled about the federal budget-related delay in opening Acadia National Park‘s seasonal facilities, but at least one group is expected to benefit by not having cars on the park’s paved roads, according to officials: road cyclists. Most of Acadia’s Park Loop Road and the entire length of the Summit [...]
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Maine flaunts its quirky, passionate residents in 2013 tourism ad campaign
DestinationsMaine is ready to tell you just how quirky, offbeat, and down-to-earth it is. In a new marketing campaign, created to attract first-time visitors to the state, Maine is focusing on the passions of its real-life residents and hoping to inspire travelers to discover their own interests. The Maine Office of Tourism created the 2013 [...]
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How Maine intends to capitalize on same-sex marriage tourism boom
DestinationsWhen Maine voters chose to legalize same-sex marriage in early November, they gave several thousand gay couples in Maine the right to legally marry. They also, in the few hours it took to count and tally the votes, set in motion what is widely expected to be the biggest change Maine’s $230 million wedding industry [...]
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Rather than flock south for the winter, U.S. retirees are relocating to winter wonderlands
DestinationsThe idea of people who uproot and move when they retire conjures up images of warm, sunny Florida or Arizona. But some of the older members of the baby boom generation, the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, are looking elsewhere, and a number of towns in cooler climates from Maine to Washington [...]
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Local push to get cruise lines to buy Maine lobster when in port scores another win
TransportCruise line agrees to buy Maine lobsters when ships make port calls next 2 months
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A second cruise ship line has agreed to buy lobsters from local suppliers when one of its ships visits Maine in September and Octob…
