CenTRO Fall Conference Nov. 9 Explores 2008 Tourism Outlook
Contact: Harold Daniel, (207) 581-1933; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — The University of Maine System Center for Tourism Research and Outreach (CenTRO) is holding its annual fall conference Nov. 9 to draw together a slate of state and national tourism authorities to asses the tourism outlook for 2008.
The “Outlook for Tourism in Maine: 2008” conference meets from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Maple Hill Farm in Hallowell. The conference will provide a preview of what tourism will be like in Maine next year. Topics being discussed include national and regional economies, the outlook for oil prices, Maine Turnpike traffic and other factors affecting growth in tourism.
“The information presented during this conference will be most helpful to everyone concerned with tourism in Maine,” says Harold Daniel, director of CenTRO and UMaine associate professor of marketing. “There will be an opportunity for participants to offer their own views on the outlook for tourism, which could help CenTRO improve its forecasting services for the tourism industry.”
Keynote conference speaker, at 9:45 a.m., is Gary Green, assistant professor at the Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. He is a published authority on nature-based tourism and also serves as research project director for the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment being conducted by the United States Forest Service.
Other speakers, from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., include:
– Charles Colgan, associate director of CenTRO, a professor of public policy and management at the University of Southern Maine’s Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service and the chair of the Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission and Forecast Manager for Maine for the New England Economic Partnership. He’ll speak on the tourism outlook for Maine in 2008.
– Steffa Normantas, co-owner of Giraffe Events & Green Tree Event Consultants in Portland, which produces a variety of events for organizations in Maine. She’ll speak on the outlook for events attractions.
– James Fitzgerald, a real estate broker in Kennebunk with the Sold on Betsy and Jim Real Estate Group, an affiliate of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, who will discuss the second home market in the housing crunch.
– And Mike Eisensmith, marketing and development coordinator for the Northern Maine Development Commission in Caribou, who will address the outlook for Northern Maine in 2008.
Further details, including registration information and conference fee, can be obtained by calling Kimberly Junkins at CenTRO on the UMaine campus in Orono at (207) 581-3102 or emailing Kimberly.Junkins@umit.maine.edu. The conference, which is open to the public, includes lunch.
The CenTRO website has details about the center and other tourism-related news and research, in addition to a fall conference online registration link and a conference agenda.
CenTRO is an interdisciplinary initiative of the University of Maine System that involves and coordinates the efforts of faculty across numerous disciplines on all campuses in the state. It has grown out of the increased recognition of the economic, social and environmental impact of tourism in Maine and the importance of recreation to the quality of life in Maine. The value of tourism to Maine has resulted in the need for addressing tourism’s complicated issues such as market analysis and promotion, land-use planning, geographic distribution, public-private cooperation, coastal and inland resource development, in addition to integrating tourism with other community development strategies.