TOURISM IN MAINE: Going beyond moose, lobster and lighthouses
January 07, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- Carolann Ouellette stood before the audience and talked about how prospective visitors to Maine need to see more than just the state's classic images and messages.
The state's most recent tourism slogan is, after all, "There's More to Maine."
And yet, on a slideshow behind Ouellette, three thumbnail images adorned her presentation: a coastal lighthouse, a cooked lobster and a moose standing in water.
"If anything, it's a hook, what gets people interested," said Ouellette, deputy director of the Maine Office of Tourism. "We've used lobster and lighthouses for years, and it gets their attention. There's also outdoor adventures, trails, biathlons, whitewater rafting, and the intrigue to our wilderness areas. It boils down to the natural scenery."
But that balance -- hanging onto Maine's iconic attractions while also finding new ways of drawing visitors -- is one that's being discussed by more than just tourism officials.
Ouellette's comments came Thursday afternoon during a forum at Maine Central Institute, where several speakers talked to about 50 people on the best practices for marketing Maine to international students. It was sponsored by Eaton Peabody as part of the Greater Bangor Program Series.
MCI, an independent town academy with a sprawling campus in this small town, serves as the public high school for the Pittsfield area and also attracts many other tuition-paying students from other countries.
The speakers, including Ouellette, shared thoughts about "what sells" and "what doesn't" as an audience of mostly officials from the state's town academies and colleges pondered how to reach out to international markets, using new messages and new technology.
Beyond lighthouses, lobster and moose, Ouellette said her office aims to market the state's many other attractions such as Acadia National Park, fall foliage, outdoor activities and winter sports, history and heritage, arts, and culinary scenes. It's about conveying a complete sense of place, she said.
Ouellette said those iconic Maine images will always be the hook that gets visitors interested in the first place. Among the marketing materials the office gives out, for instance, is a USB computer drive shaped like a lobster.
In international markets, it's often important to meet with tour operators or others in person, Ouellette said. "The relationship, face-to-face thing is so key internationally," she said.
Among those also spoke were Jim Paul, director of the U.S. Commercial Service in Boston, who talked about federal government resources for educational institutions through the U.S. Department of Commerce and the state Department of Education's USACenters.
Abby Swardlick, Dave Page and Melvin Harmon, of Maine's Council on International Educational Exchange in Portland, known also as CIEE, discussed how they reach college and high school students in overseas markets, and how those efforts could bring such students to Maine. That program, which has offices and personnel across the globe, offers several programs that enable young people from other countries to come here on visas to work and receive an education.
"Have any one of you stopped at the Kennebunk rest stop?" Swardlick said, referring to Interstate 95. "If you hear somebody working there with a Russian accent, it's very likely someone with us."
Page said international students and workers had previously come to the U.S. primarily to make money, but the economic downturn has softened that purpose.
"It's going back to its roots in a way by promoting the cultural experience and developing English," Page said.
Those two draws are top ones for Maine's independent academies and colleges, they said. Citing their own website redesigns, Swardlick, Page and Harmon said it's important to target the information and presentation depending on the country, and whether it's geared toward parents or students.
Harmon said it's critical to potential high school and college students to see primarily photos and video to get a "feeling for the experience they could have." And the social networking site Facebook appears to have surpassed search-engine behemoth Google when it comes to young people searching for schools, as they're also looking for the impressions of their peers, not just search results.
Page said when their exchange program does look to place international students or workers in Maine, the state is promoted "as a region, as a destination."
Several audience members said they should do more, as college and independent school officials, to work together and offer ways that international students might stay longer in Maine, through shared courses or summer programs. That way, international students might be more apt to pursue colleges in Maine, and come to call the state "home."
One way that can be accomplished is through the website studymaine.net, created by the Maine International Trade Center, Swardlick said.
Even for schools looking to recruit internationally, Harmon said, the best marketing tool now is showing people "what it's like" to be somewhere and showing real people enjoying themselves in that setting.
"You need to promote the fun-factor even though it's education," Harmon said.
Courtesy of the Morning Sentinel
Scott Monroe -- 861-9239
smonroe@centralmaine.com
