Portland ME 2025 Destination Summit registration now open

The Visit Portland Annual Meeting - now rebranded as Destination Summit - will be held 0830-1430 on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, in Hannaford Hall at the Abromson Community Education Center at USM in Portland.

From Visit Portland:

"Join 250+ industry professionals for a day packed with insights, connections, and inspiration. This is more than just a conference—it’s a chance to network with leaders, uncover the latest trends, and gain valuable strategies to elevate your impact in our tourism industry. From a marketing deep dive and regional statistics to expert speakers and interactive networking, this event is designed to inform, engage, and spark fresh ideas."

Summit will feature:

• Marketing update
• Regional visitation statistics
• Awards
• Exhibits
• Networking
• Marketing workshop

Registration priced at $75 for members, $90 for others, is here.

Revenues would be used to fund the Maine Department of Education.

A bill introduced into the Maine House - LD 225 (HP 148) - by Rep. Michael Brennan (D-Portland) with numerous cosponsors would create an additional 3% lodging tax - on top of the current 9% - with the proceeds going to the Maine Department of Education to fund school construction and K-12 education.

The new tax would become effective 1 January 2026.

Per the title of this Bill, one purpose is to "reduce property taxes," but it's not clear how that would necessarily come about.

At 12%, Maine's state lodging tax rate would be second-highest in the US.

And at least in part for reasons related to the US economy, visitation to Maine was down by 9% year-on-year in the summer of 2024.

Because a higher lodging tax rate puts Maine lodging places at a competitive disadvantage to other destinations, the Maine Tourism Association opposes this legislation.

TTRA 2025 International Conference to be held in Galway, Ireland 24-26 June

Conference theme is:

"EXPLORE, INNOVATE, TRANSFORM: Influencing the Future of Global Travel and Tourism Research"

Conference venue will be the Galmont Hotel in Galway which is offering conference participants single-occupancy accommodations at the rate of 251 euro per night B&B.

The Galway Visitors Bureau and Galway Chamber of Commerce will host an opening reception.

Registration rates:

• TTRA members: $1049
• Non-members: $1449
• Student members: $399
• Non-member students: $499
• Guests: $499

For participants traveling from outside Ireland, TTRA recommends flying into either Shannon Airport or Dublin Airport and proceeding to Galway by car or bus. In Galway, the bus station is less than a 5-minute walk from the Galmont Hotel.

Agenda has not yet been set, but for further information as it develops, email TTRA at info@ttra.com, call 1-248-708-8872, or visit ttra.com.

Last Day to Register for MTA Annual Meeting 2024

Today Friday 10 May 2024 is the last day to register for the Maine Tourism Association Annual Meeting to be held next Tuesday 14 May at Brick South in Portland.

Agenda:

0945-1015 Registration

1015-1115 Build Your Internship Workshop

1115-1145 Networking & Exhibitors

1145-1330: Lunch; Annual Meeting; Hall of Fame Award presented to Don Kleiner, Maine Outdoors

1315-1415 AI: Your New Travel Companion

1430-1545 Adapting to Change: Building Resilience in the Face of Maine's Shifting Climate

1600-1700 Toast to Tourism networking event

Speakers will include:

• Kathryn Ferance, MTA Director of Workforce Development
• Caroline Ridout, MTA
• Elizabeth Sutherland, CEO/Sutherland Weston
• Jessica Ward, Sutherland Weston
• Jeff Marks, ED/ClimateWork Maine
• Hannah Pingree, Director/Governor's Office of Policy Innovation
• Matthew Polstein, Owner/New England Outdoor Center
• Andy Shepard, Former CEO/Saddleback Maine
• Steve Mills, CEO/Maine Beer Company

Tickets are $125 for MTA members, $135 for non-members.

Go here to register.

Travalyst annual meeting held in France

The sustainable-tourism nonprofit founded in 2019 by Prince Harry held its annual "Convening" this week in France.

The 2-day event featured a roundtable discussion focused on communities, in which Prince Harry took part virtually from his home in California.

Prince Harry said, in part:

"Travel and tourism relies on destinations, held together by communities, without which we have nowhere to travel to. Communities are the beating heart of travel, and we must do better by the people who are the custodians of the places we visit…More and more people are wanting to make informed travel choices so that the benefit of travel is felt by all. Travalyst and its partners bring a combined market value of nearly $3 trillion, and are working hard to provide that resource at a systems level. "

Travalyst's work to date has been focused on lodging and aviation, with initiatives including:

• Gathering sustainability information about lodging providers
• Developing sustainability certifications for lodging properties
• Organizing emissions estimates to enable people booking flights to make lower emitting travel choices

Personnel changes to Travalyst's Independent Advisory Group announced at the meeting were:

• Departure of Chair Diana Walker to the US Department of State
• Succession of sustainability consultant Dr. Anna Spenceley to Chair
• Appointment of sustainability consultant Sarah Holloway to a new Vice Chair position
• Addition of Professor Sara Dolnicar of the University of Queensland in Australia

Travalyst's industry partners include Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Mastercard, Sabre, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa.