PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 28, 2023
Tourism industry officials in Maine say they hope to build on the results from 2022, a year in which the number of visitors to the state slipped, but tourist spending rose sharply. At the Maine Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Bangor on Tuesday, state officials said direct spending by tourists totaled $8.64 billion last year, up from $7.85 billion in 2021. An analysis by the Maine Office of Tourism found that while the number of people visiting Maine last year declined slightly – from 15.6 million in 2021 to 15.4 million.