Dann Lewis: from Tourist to Tourism Director

Dann H. Lewis has seen Maine through a tourist's eyes. He has flown into the Portland Jetport, dined on Maine lobster, visited friends along the coast, and canoed through Western Maine.

Dann Lewis begins a job Monday as the director of the Maine Office of Tourism, the top government position in one of the state's largest industries.

Dann Lewis will oversee an office with an annual budget of $1.8 million. His primary mission will be to market Maine as a tourism destination.

In a telephone interview, Dann Lewis said one of his primary goals will be to get the governemtn and private sector to work together.

Dann Lewis has worked in many other areas during his 36 year career. He has headed the tourism efforts for many big-name destinations: the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, and New York state where he was in on the early development of the "I Love New York" campaign.

Bern Rotman of the New York Department of Economic Development said "Dann Lewis had a pivotal role to play in generating industry support for the "I Love NY" campaign.

Dann Lewis has spent nearly his entire adult life in the travel industry, and says the job of tourism director has a nice fit with his personal and professional interests.

Chosen because of his broad experience, Dann Lewis has much to learn about Maine and its tourism industry. Dann knows he'll have to squeeze as much as he can out of a tourism budget which is small by comparison, and hasn't increased in years.

source: Maine Sunday Telegram, Vol. 107 Num. 52, 1995, by Kim Strosnider

Dann H Lewis to Airlift "I Love NY" to Japan

A joint advertising program to encourage more Japanese travel to New York has been developed with Japan Airlines and the New York Division of Tourism, says Dann Lewis, Director of Tourism.

JAL print advertising in Japan will carry the "I Love New York" logo, and special tv commercials are being filmed in New York. In addition, radio commercials will feature the "I Love NY" theme music, already well known around the world.

Dann Lewis and Robert McKeon finalized the agreement while in Tokyo. A special "I Love New York" travel desk has been placed in the main ticket office of JAL.

from 1980

I Love NY Notes - Dann Lewis

by Dann Lewis, Director of Tourism

The state of New York is off and running again for fall with its internationally famous "I Love NY" tourism campaign.

Resorts on Long Island are now operating at 97% capacity, and in the Thousand Islands, 93%.

Special briefings for travel agents are to be held around the country in connection with the "I Love New York" campaign. This special campaign has been developed in collaboration with Delta, Eastern, Braniff, and United airlines.

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

More Than Lobsters and Moose

By TUX TURKEL, Portland Press Herald, Mar 9, 2004

"It must be Maine," targets Northeast residents who have never been to Maine and might be surprised at the diversity of outdoor experiences they can have here.

This image campaign appears to be boosting the state's recognition, according to Dann Lewis, Maine's tourism director. Surveys done last year in southern New England and New York - where the ads are seen on television and in print - suggest that residents who previously thought first of Massachusetts or Vermont are now remembering advertisements for Maine. They also said Maine would be their top choice for vacationing in New England over the next two years.

"It's an early indication that the ad campaign is working," Dann Lewis said.

The campaign being highlighted today by Dann Lewis is noteworthy because out-of-state visitors are responsible for the bulk of travel spending in Maine. Nearly 30 percent of these guests drive here from Massachusetts. Visitors from New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Pennsylvania also come in large numbers.

Tourism Spending Up in 2005

from "Tourism spending rose in 2005, state reports" by Tux Terkel, Portland Press-Herald, August 18, 2006

Maine's tourism industry broke out of a four-year slump in 2005 and increased the total number of overnight trips to the state by 9 percent and the number of overnight vacationers by 12 percent, figures being released today show.

"2005 was a very good year," said Dann Lewis, the state's tourism director. "It reversed a trend that had been soft for four years."

Overall, Maine hosted 9.7 million overnight trips in 2005, a 9 percent increase. Overnight trips are a key barometer in the tourism industry because those visitors spend the most money for food, lodging and services.

Dann Lewis' Bio from Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference

Dann H. Lewis has been Director of the Office of Tourism in the State of Maine for the past seven years. In this role Mr. Lewis has been instrumental in moving the promotional budget from a $1.5 million general fund allocation to a $7.2 million dedicated revenue source. In turn tourism has become Maine’s largest industry with visitor expenditures exceeding $9.2 billion annually, amounting to 20% of tax revenues, supporting directly and indirectly over 180,000 jobs. Dann Lewis is also a member of the board and Treasurer of Discover New England, a six state international tourism marketing consortium.


Mr. Lewis was a founder and first board chairman of Bahamasair, the flag carrier of the Bahama Islands, and was president of Trans World Express carriers in California and in Pennsylvania. He later returned to the U.S. Virgin Islands as vice president and general manager of Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle in St. Croix. Mr. Lewis served as international marketing director and assistant director of tourism for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and later as Director of Tourism for the U.S. Virgin Islands in St. Thomas. He moved from St. Thomas to New York to become Deputy Commissioner of Commerce and Director of Tourism for New York State during the early days of the I Love New York campaign.

Dann Lewis starts Bahamasair

Back in the early 70's, Dann Lewis was the driving force behind the creation of Bahamasair. Dann Lewis' leadership was so successful, the airline actually started flying 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

Tourism plan 'on the right path', Dann Lewis

By EDWARD D. MURPHY, Staff Writer, MaineToday.com

Dann Lewis, the director of tourism, said the state hopes to capitalize on the perception of Maine as a place apart from the turmoil in the world.

"Our industry continues to reel from the fear factor that has one common denominator ­ people want to stay as close to home as possible," Dann Lewis said.

That makes Maine especially attractive to people within a day's drive, he said.

"We're safer. We're rural," Dann Lewis said.

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