The Summer People

Well neighbor, truth be told, the state thinks the onslaught of visitors is a good thing, because most of them come with a wallet full of disposable cash which they’re going to spend on ice cream, boat rides, t shirts, and rocks with "Bar Harbor" painted on them. There’s just no way we can get these folks to just mail their cash to us because we’re special. They’re going to have to physically come and see how special we are. And the state Department of Tourism has this guy, Executive Director Dann Lewis, who’s whole job is to get those people from their homes in Pennsylvania and New York, to your main street in their RV.

Lewis, appearing on Time Warner Cable’s "Maine Matters" show says, "There’s not a family in Maine in truth that doesn’t benefit. If you consider that over 101 thousand jobs are generated or supported by tourism in the state. There’s approximately 7.7 billion dollars of economic impact per year. It generates over 312 million dollars for the general fund. If that money weren’t coming in from visitors, everybody’s taxes would go up a great deal."

from "The Summer People" by Chad Gilley, July 20, 1999