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A recent survey conducted by a group of University of Maine students could find college students understand the benefits of tourism and do not mind out-of-state visitors.
The survey assessed Mainers’ attitudes on tourism and will determine, once its results are analyzed, which counties could better educate their residents on the benefits of tourism. Early results show that many who took the survey don’t have a negative attitude toward tourists.
The study was part of an extra credit project for the students in Professor George Miaoulis’s market research class. Miaoulis presented the project as a way to assist the university’s Center for Tourism Research and Outreach (CenTRO).
According to CenTRO, Maine residents traveling in the state spent $292 million in 2004 on retail, food, lodging, transportation and recreation. Out-of-state visitors spent $4.5 billion.
In 2004, 42 percent of tourists traveled to the southern Maine coast, 28 percent traveled to Greater Portland and Casco Bay, 19 percent to the Kennebec and Moose River Valleys, 16 percent to Maine lakes and mountains, 10 percent to the Downeast and Acadia region, 9 percent to the Maine Highlands and 5 percent to Aroostook County.
Throughout the semester, the 16 students drafted survey questions, tested them, created an online survey and promoted the project. They are interpreting the answers and preparing their final report.
While the group’s final report and PowerPoint presentation will not be completed until February or March 2009, project manager Bethany Mealey already has an idea of where the results are headed.
“It looks like a lot of the people who took our study had a college education, or at least a few years of college, and most of them don’t really seem to have an issue with tourists. They understand the benefits of it,” Mealey said.
The survey asked Maine residents demographic questions to learn who took the poll, in addition to questions about their opinion on tourism.
One question asked participants if they agreed or disagreed with the statement “tourists cause traffic jams.”
Mealey, who is from Farmingdale, Maine, said she does not personally have a problem with tourists.
“Where I live, we don’t see a lot of tourists. I think it’s interesting to see people from other parts of the country and other countries. We have a beautiful state here, a lot of awesome nature stuff to visit and see, so I think that’s one of the biggest attractions here,” Mealey said.
Another group member, fourth-year student Andrea St. Pierre, said after living in Massachusetts this past summer, she appreciates her home state of Maine more.
“I think that it’s so laid-back and everyone says it kind of takes a time warp when you come back here, because everything’s slower. I think Mainers like that, though, because you can just relax and you don’t have the outside world on your shoulders,” St. Pierre said.
Fourth-year Nick Littlefield, another group member, added that tourism generates a large part of the state’s income.
“Leaf peepers, shoppers, hunters all across the country come up to Maine to go hunting, skiing, snowboarding. We have it all. It’s a four-season state,” Littlefield said.
