Tourism Professionals Gather for Annual Maine Governor's Conference

AUGUSTA, Maine - Close to 400 tourism and hospitality industry professionals gathered over the past two days at the Augusta Civic Center for the 2015 Maine Governor's Conference on Tourism. Attendees were addressed by Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Commissioner George Gervais, and Maine Office of Tourism Director Carolann Ouellette.

"Strong tourism is vital to a healthy Maine economy," said Governor Paul R. LePage. "The presence of so many industry businesses at the conference demonstrates the level of commitment that helped Maine achieve a 10 percent increase in tourism-related visitation in 2014, including over 4 million first-time visitors."

The theme of the 2015 conference was "Know Your Audience to Craft Your Story".

Jonah Sachs, CEO of Free Range Studios and author of Winning the Story Wars', gave the keynote
address on "Telling Your Story". Sachs is an internationally recognized story-teller, author, entrepreneur and marketer.

"Tourism is a state-wide industry offering year-round experiences," said DECD Commissioner George Gervais. "As one of Maine's largest industries, tourism supports more than 94,000 Maine jobs."

Conference sessions and workshops for attendees covered a range of topics from how to identify and reach potential customers and leverage online engagement, to updates on statutes and tourism-related programs in Maine.

The winners of the annual Maine Tourism Awards were announced during the conference lunch.

The awards were presented by Commissioner Gervais, and honor individuals, businesses and organizations that have distinguished themselves through their work.

Tourism Award winners were: Madawaska Four Corners Park for Creativity; Northern Outdoors for Innovation; the Appalachian Mountain Club for Leadership and Growth; Roosevelt Campobello International Park for Marketing and Promotion; Maine Woods Discovery for Originality; and the Maine Windjammer Association, recipient of the Governor's Award for Tourism Excellence.

"Recognizing and honoring the award recipients is a highlight of the conference," said Director of Tourism Carolann Ouellette. "In keeping with our conference theme, we recognized a group of individuals who are finding innovative ways to share Maine's story and bring new visitors to our state."

This year's conference also included a silent auction of items donated by members of Maine Made and the Maine Crafts Association. Proceeds will be donated to the Marjie Wright Scholarship Fund.

The Governor's Conference on Tourism is a project of the Maine Office of Tourism, with the support of our generous sponsors.