If Maine tourism officials are interested in remaking Penobscot and Piscataquis counties into something of a Maine Highlands, as a recent marketing initiative from the Penquis Tourism Coalition proposes to do, its first stop should be to check in with the Ardersier & Petty Environmental Society, dedicated to making that region, located in the Scottish highlands a bit north of Inverness, into a better place to live and visit. Specifically, Maine should review the second and third assertions of the group’s reason for founding.

“[2] Over the years the village of Ardersier has suffered decline through neglect and apathy. A positive start must be made to reverse this.

“[3] The economic blight will not fix itself without assistance. In order for people to stop and spend money in the village there needs to be something to attract them. ‘Historic Village’ signs are useless without a historic village.”

No one knows better than people in the tourism industry that places with doubtful weather and pretty but not especially uncommon landscapes do not become immensely popular tourist destinations without a huge amount of work. Northern Scotland is an attractive place, but it is also a workplace, both in the conventional sense of oil rigs and the traditional mainstays of fishing, farming and forestry but also in the sense that what attracts tourists and what they see is the result of a lot of thought and a ton of labor. (Its officials also don’t battle against the desires of tourists, who love the ocean. Their promotions emphasize a coast and sea that look like those very near here, yet with Down East already a recognizable region, it may be more productive for the Penquis region to figure out how it can be more closely associated with Washington County.)

Want a wedding in the Scottish Highlands? There’s a Web site that provides you with everything but the spouse. Want a walking or biking tour? You can choose a beautiful route without leaving your home. Prefer a fishing vacation? It’s all set up. The same, of course, for golf. Something more unusual? How about the annual Up-Helly-A, a festival of Norse heritage in the Shetland Islands in January? Being able to offer churches from the 8th century and castles from the 14th doesn’t hurt either.

And that’s the reason for thinking about points 2 and 3 above. Decline through neglect and apathy is in abundance in Maine. And just as the Scottish Highlands have an international recognition, so does Maine, but it does this region no good if all it can offer is “historic village” signs and easy access to the mall. The national group Tourism Training Scotland makes the industry a profession at even the lower levels rather than just something college students do during the summer. Springboard Scotland trains school guidance counselors about tourism and guides students into it. SVQs are nationally recognized training grades for employees to advance in the field of tourism.

The point is not that Maine should copy everything that Scotland does but that successful tourism is not merely identifying a place and hoping people show up. Maine can call Penquis its highlands or it can call it Aruba; what matters is not the name but the work and the support behind it.