30,000 tourists use information centers

Almost 30,000 visitors requested information at the new Tourist Information Centers on Interstate 95 in Hampden during their first month of operation.

The centers opened July 1 with great fanfare from state and local officials. According to James Thompson, executive director of the Maine Publicity Bureau, the centers haven’t disappointed expectations. The MPB operates the centers in a cooperative effort with the state.

July figures show that 15,935 tourists visited the center off the northbound lane of I-95, and 13,928 visited the center off the southbound lane.

“Conventional wisdom was that, by far, most of the visitors would be using the northbound center,” Thompson said. “The numbers show that the total is closely split between the two centers.” The northbound center is larger than the southbound center.

Where are the unexpectedly high number of southbound visitors headed? According to Thompson, many of them request information about mountains in the western part of the state.

On Thursday afternoon, the parking lot at the southbound information center contained cars from Massachusetts, New York, Missouri, New Hampshire, Arizona, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

According to Sheri Linehan, an employee at the center, many of the visitors want information about driving west on routes 2 and 201. “Many of them ask where they will end up if they travel a couple of more hours before stopping for the night,” Linehan said. “And then they want to know what they can do and see there.” Many visitors also notice lakes on the maps and want to know which ones are good for fishing, she said.

On Thursday, Nancy Cox from Arizona was at the center to learn about places to look for antiques in Hallowell. She had been up the eastern coast of the United States, had visited Nova Scotia, and was headed for New Hampshire and Vermont.

Ruth Gawronski from Staten Island, N.Y., was returning from a visit to Canada and wanted information on Boothbay. “I need a place to stay there,” she said.

David LaDuke from St. Bruno, Quebec, was headed home, but he plans to take a couple of days to get there and was looking for places to camp.

Across Interstate 95 at the northbound center, employee Joan Mayer said that Bar Harbor and Canada were the most common destinations for visitors. “They often want to know about the attractions and accommodations that are available,” Mayer said.

One of those visitors on Thursday was Van Dekruys of the Netherlands. Dekruys was driving a friend’s car to Bar Harbor, where he plans to spend three or four days, and was inquiring about possible campsites.

Larry VanCraeynest from Montreal was driving through Maine on his way to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He stopped in Hampden to see just how far it was to the Canadian border.

During the planning stage for the information centers, it was thought that the northern and east-coastal areas of Maine would benefit from their opening. From the initial visitor figures, it looks like the western mountains and southern part of the state also will benefit.