Special Research Projects

2017-18 DestinationNext Project

In April and October, 2017, Paul Ouimet, Destinations International’s Managing Director, and members of the Maine Office of Tourism team, traveled the state to conduct Maine’s DestinationNEXT survey. This survey was a self-assessment of Maine’s tourism industry by members of the industry, businesses, municipal leaders, citizens and customers. DestinationNEXT’s surveys have been used in over 150 destinations in the US, Canada and around the world. By using that specific survey in Maine, the state placed its results within the larger context of all DestinationNEXT survey information and highlighted strengths and areas that need work. Each region in Maine received separate reports that focused on their specific results.

Maine DestinationsNEXT results

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results Aroostook

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results DownEast-Acadia

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results Greater Bangor

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results Greater Portland & Casco Bay

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results Kennebec Valley

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results Maine’s Lakes & Mountains

2018 MaineDestination NEXT Results MidCoast

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results The Maine Beaches

2018 MaineDestinationNEXT Results Maine Highlands

Maine Woods Area reports

These Maine Woods reports were specifically extracted from Maine Office of Tourism research to meet the needs of MOT’s partners in the Maine Woods Consortium, working under the umbrella of the Northern Forest Center. The Maine Woods Consortium works across seven rural counties: Oxford, Franklin, Androscoggin, Somerset, Piscataquis, Aroostook and Washington. Because MOT regions are outlined differently, these reports are the researchers’ best attempt to give the Maine Woods Consortium a better geographic and economic assessment for that large woods region.

Maine Woods Regional Report (2018)

Maine Woods Visitation and Economic Impact (2018)

2017 Maine Woods Area Report

2017 Maine Woods Visitation and Econ Impact

2016 Maine Woods Area Report

2016 Maine Woods Visitation and Econ Impact

2015 Maine Woods Area Report

2015 Maine Woods_Visitation and Econ Impact

Maine Cruise Research

The Maine Office of Tourism, in association with CruiseMaine, commissioned DPA to conduct a study of cruise ship visitors to Maine. The goal of the research was to help the state measure: cruise visitor characteristics, how cruise visitors spend their time on-shore, how cruise visitors feel about their on-shore visits, their likelihood to return to the state by cruise or other methods, and the economic impact generated by cruise visitor spending in the state.

Survey of Cruise Visitors to Maine – Behavior, Attitudes, and Spending of Passengers and Crew (August 2019)