State tourism makes online push Office allocates $500,000 to help Web site design

BANGOR – The Maine Office of Tourism has revamped its advertising strategy and budget to better attract visitors to the state, especially as the Internet has become the popular place to make travel plans.

At the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism held Tuesday at the Bangor Civic Center, Steve Lyons, a state tourism development specialist, said the Office of Tourism has decided to reduce the number of print advertisements it runs nationwide and substantially increase its online presence.

That effort requires a significant investment but is likely to have a high rate of return, according to Lyons. The Office of Tourism has a 2008 budget of $8.5 million, up from $7.5 million last year. That amount covers all advertising efforts and salaries and benefits for its six employees, according to Lyons.

The office has decided to allocate $500,000 this year for the design and maintenance of its Web site, www.visitmaine.com, which is commissioned to a Portland firm. That amount is up from last year’s budget of $300,000. Recent upgrades to the site include photographs, video and extensive information on the most commonly searched topics, such as dining and fishing. A Google search for “award-winning chefs” brings up the Maine Office of Tourism as its second suggested site.

The office also will spend $3.6 million this year on its contract with a New York City advertising agency, which places Maine tourism ads in print, radio, television and online publications.

“The Internet is the most effective marketing tool we have,” Lyons said, adding that the state sees excellent return on investment. The most recent figures available show that tourism spending brought in $429 million in tax revenues in 2006, Lyons said.

Lyons and the tourism office’s advertising and Web design executives gave a presentation at the conference explaining their decision to cut back on print advertisements. In 2002, the tourism office received 766,000 inquiries through its Web site and telephone hot line. In 2007, the office received 1.9 million inquiries, and of those, fewer than 5,000 were placed by telephone.

The state has expanded its still extensive TV, radio and print advertising from New England and New York state to Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The latest slogan, “It must be Maine,” also has appeared in Canada, as Canadian tourists are eager to take advantage of the weaker U.S. dollar, Lyons and the executives said.

Earlier in the day, Gov. John Baldacci and New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham gave a brief welcome to the record-size crowd of 500 hospitality professionals, then left for Augusta, where Graham spoke to the Legislature about cross-border energy and tourism initiatives.

Keynote speaker Lalia Rach, a dean of New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, gave an overview of the major economic and social issues that will influence where and how U.S. residents travel this year. She encouraged the audience to try to bring previous customers back to Maine.

“If you love your current customers, they will tell their friends,” Rach said. “This year is all about relationships.”