CARIBOU, Maine — The Aroostook County Tourism (ACT) marketing subcommittee has been hard at work on developing a five-year plan that looks to bring more tourism to northern Maine.
Since project leader Alain Ouellette was not present during the August 18, 2016 Northern Maine Development Commission meeting, ACT Chair Patricia Sutherland of Chapman described the new strategies in his stead.
Sutherland praised the marketing group for their “extensive meetings” which led to their new tourism strategy.
“We’ve confirmed a goal, target audience, reach, and overall strategies for going ahead this year,” Sutherland said.
Collectively, ACT discussed the components of Aroostook County’s unique brand – “promise, personality, and experience”, the products they will promote, and the consumers they plan to connect with. Additionally, the subcommittee developed a timeline which delineates the area’s biggest tourism and recreation attractions by month, and when they should be promoted.
ACT’s current goal, according to Sutherland, is to “increase interest and awareness with the core target audience, and to increase inquiries and requests for vacation planning tools online and offline.”
As a result of the subcommittee’s many meetings, they developed a specific personality for The County to aid in their marketing.
“If Aroostook County was a friend in your circle, he would make sure everyone knew about the church picnic and that those who came helped with setup and cleanup,” Sutherland said. “He would also be the guy who remembered ice for the cooler, let you borrow his kayak, brought floaty toys for the kids, and extra cold beverages to the party. Aroostook is valued for being faithful and responsive to its past while also being fun and adventurous.”
Target audiences for the five-year plan are, according to tourism industry terminology: “Balanced Achievers” and “Genuine Originals.”
“Balanced Achievers are folks who are between 40 and 50,” Sutherland explained. “They have a family, disposable income, they want interesting things to do, and they want to go online to develop their vacation plan.”
Genuine Originals, on the other hand, are older, but still have a desire to plan an exciting vacation online. However, they are not the type that goes back to the same vacation spot every year, and usually vacation in different locales each year.
Both groups fit within the parameters of ACT’s marketing plan, and both generally develop their vacation agenda online. The tourism board is specifically focusing on these groups, and actively avoiding a “shotgun approach,” where resources are potentially spread too thin.
Alain Ouellette later commented that the project is being funded via $125,000 grant, and that “a vast amount of that money will be used for advertising and marketing tools throughout the year.”
Ouellette hopes to leverage the grant with some “private sector money,” and eventually gain their support with the tourism initiative.
Decisions regarding this project will be made by the ACT committee, with their recommendation forwarded to the NMDC board for approval.
“ACT and NMDC have a very good working relationship,” said Ouellette, “ACT has an ambitious set of objectives and we are very proud of our committee. A good team like ACT makes everything that much better.”
As part of their objectives, ACT delineated primary and secondary offerings in their plan. Primary offerings are “soft to medium adventure tourism, winter sports, lake and river fishing, and fall colors. Secondary offerings include the many summer festivals or historical locations such as the Nylander Museum, Littleton’s agricultural museum, or the Acadian Village in Van Buren, to name a few.
Sutherland emphasized the importance of using the word “fun” while referring to Aroostook County, and enhancing the customer experience by treating tourists with respect and honesty. “‘There’s nothing to do here.’ is not a response that we want,” Sutherland said.
