Travel and Tourism in Maine The 2003 Visitor Study Southern Maine Coast Prepared for the: Maine Office of Tourism June 2004

Size & Structure of the Southern Maine Coast Travel Market  The Southern Maine Coast is visited on about four-in-ten of all Maine Day and Overnight trips.  It receives 16.0 million Day trips, 2.3 million Overnight trips on which 1+ nights are spent in the region itself, and another 1.1 million Overnight trips to the state on which the traveler spends some time or passes through the Southern Maine Coast.  This means that two-thirds of those who spend time in the region are also prompted to overnight in the region. The balance one-third are not.

Trips to Southern Maine Coast Total: 19.4 Million Trips Pass-Through 1.1 Million (6%) Day Trips 16.0 Million (82%) Stayed Overnight 2.3 Million (12%)

Key Market Segments  Overnight trips, though smaller in number than day trips, typically generate more traveler revenue for the state because they are longer and often involve spending for commercial accommodation.  Vacation or Marketable trips are worthy of particular attention for similar reasons and because the choice of destination on them is discretionary and open, therefore, to the influence of destination marketing activities.

Purpose of Overnight Trips to Southern Maine Coast 1+ Nights in Region: 2.3 Million Visit Friends/Relatives 0.9 Million (38%) Marketable Pleasure 1.3 Million (55%) Business 0.2 Million (7%)

Types of Marketable Trips  Marketable Day trips to the Southern Maine Coast are most often for Shopping or Touring reasons. Overnight trips are most often Touring or Beach vacations. A Touring trip is a trip by car, bus, or train through areas of scenic beauty, cultural or general interest.  Two types are under-developed for the Southern Maine Coast versus the state Norm. These are Outdoors trips (to experience the natural environment and engage in outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, or rafting) and Special Event trips (to attend an event such as a fair, festival, pageant, race, sports meet, or a professional or college ball game).

Marketable Day Trip Mix Base: Marketable Day Trips

Overnight Marketable Trip Mix Base: Overnight Marketable Trips <1%

Making the Trip  Two-thirds of the travelers who stay overnight on the Southern Maine Coast come from New England and Massachusetts contributes half of that. Maine residents are far less important to the region than to the state overall.

Sources of Business Base: Total Overnight Trips

Making the Trip cont’d  And, as is true for the state overall, most of these trips are taken during the summer.

Season of Trip Base: Total Overnight Trips

Making the Trip cont’d  Trips on which 1+ night are spent in Southern Maine Coast last an average of 5.1 nights in the state and 4.4 of these are spent in the region itself.

Number of Nights In Maine Total in Maine: 5.1 Nights Southern Maine Coast 4.4 Nights Other Regions 0.7 Nights Base: Total Overnight Trips

Making the Trip cont’d  Non-commercial accommodation covers about half of all the nights that the region’s visitors spend in Maine, The leading commercial accommodation type is rented houses & cottages which account for as many nights as hotels and motels combined.

Accommodation Used* Base: Total Overnight Trips * Percent of trip nights spent in each type of accommodation

The Southern Maine Coast Visitor  The Southern Maine Coast travelers are similar in many other respects to those of the state as a whole.  The average travel party size is 3.3, mostly comprised of spouses and partners traveling together and with children if they have them.  About a third are from households with $75,000+ incomes.

Size of Travel Party Base: Total Overnight Trips Total: 3.3 Total: 3.1

Travel Party Composition Base: Total Overnight Trips <1%

Income Base: Total Overnight Trips

The Southern Maine Coast Visitor cont’d  Planning and booking lead times tend to be shorter rather than longer and rely on previous personal experience, the internet and friendly advice for information.

Planning Cycle Base: Total Overnight Trips

Booking Cycle Base: Total Overnight Trips Booked in Advance Note: On 28% of Total Overnight Trips there was no advance booking.

Information Sources Used Base: Total Overnight Trips

The Southern Maine Coast Experience  The ocean, and its beaches, clearly represent the key experiential attractions for visitors to the Southern Maine Coast. They also are particularly inclined towards shopping (including LL Bean), eating unique local foods (lobster in particular) and visiting historic areas.

Things Experienced on Trip Base: Total Overnight Trips

The Southern Maine Coast Experience cont’d  Almost half of all the travelers made a point of visiting each of the communities of Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, Kittery, and Old Orchard Beach.

Regional Destinations Visited Base: Total Overnight Trips

Product Delivery  The image of Maine among the region’s visitors is strong. Ratings are superior to the U.S. Norm on virtually all dimensions, but especially in the following respects:  providing a worry-free adult, as well as family, atmosphere  being a popular, exciting and unique destination  offering excellent sports/recreation and sightseeing experiences.

Product Delivery Base: Total Overnight Trips

The Bottom Line  The Southern Maine Coast is the most important Maine region in terms of trip numbers. There exists, nonetheless, a notable marketing opportunity to strengthen its position by leveraging its superior product imagery within a program that would induce more visitors to stay overnight and longer in the region.

Research Background  This report was prepared for the Maine Office of Tourism by Longwoods International.  Visitor volume and travel profile data come from:  Travel USA ®, Longwoods' syndicated survey of the U.S. travel market that contacts a representative sample of 200,000 U.S. households annually,  the follow-up survey of Maine overnight visitors identified through Travel USA ® and,  the Maine Day Visitor Study.