CARIBOU, Maine — The brightly colored leaves are falling from the trees in Aroostook County and the season of white snow-laced fields will soon be here. That has tourism officials thinking about snowmobile season in northern Maine and wanting to let folks know why snowmobiling in Aroostook County should not be missed.
Aroostook County Tourism (ACT) is spending the month of October traveling to snowmobile events in New Hampshire and southern Maine to spread the word.
ACT staffed the Snowmobile Grass Drags in New Hampshire and will display at the Maine Snowmobile Show in Augusta.
“The time to attract the snowmobilers is before the snow falls and early in the season when northern Maine often has snow and other parts of Maine lag,” said NMDC’s Alain Ouellette, planning and development division director.
Tourism industry officials estimate that snowmobiling in Maine is a $300 million to $350 million business responsible for 23,000 jobs statewide.
Aroostook County boasts more than 2,200 miles of trails and national snowmobiling magazines routinely rank the trail system in northern Maine as a “Top Ten” destination in North America.
Per research conducted for the Maine Office of Tourism, tourists contributed $157 million to Aroostook County in 2016, an increase of over 13 percent over 2015. The tourism industry in Aroostook supports 2,784 jobs and more than $53 million in total earnings, along with nearly $15 million in total taxes.
Once the snowmobiling season begins, Gary Marquis, superintendent of Parks and Recreation in Caribou and a member of the ACT board, will again deliver the Snowmobile Trail Report. The report will be available in The County’s weekly newspapers, on Channel X Radio and WHOU this snowmobile season, but to attract more snowmobilers to the region a greater emphasis is being placed on the internet and social media.
“We offer probably one of the best products out there for snowmobilers,” said Marquis. “And with gas prices still low, people are willing to drive to the region and experience the exceptional trails of Aroostook County.”
A link to the report will also be available on www.visitaroostook.com and on the Aroostook County Tourism Facebook page.
Funding for ACT is provided in part through a grant from the Maine Office of Tourism.
