UMaine Marketing Professor on ‘Quality Labels’ for Tourism

As the Maine Office of Tourism looks for new strategies to strengthen the tourism economy in the state, University of Maine Associate Professor of Marketing Harold Daniel in the Maine Business School is available to discuss a “quality labels” concept that UMaine market research suggests would be help.

Daniel says a UMaine student survey in late 2011 indicated that four out of 10 visitors interviewed said they would pay higher prices for a “certified” vacation destination. Quality labels assigned to certain Maine woods and outdoors vacation establishments that put a premium on environmental stewardship, for example, would acknowledge qualifying businesses that share a commitment to quality lodging, dining, recreational opportunities, positive environmental practices and community contributions.

At the first in a series of Governor’s Conference on Tourism statewide hearings recently, speakers suggested ways to heighten tourists’ awareness of and interest in high-quality vacation experiences through consistent brand marketing and advocacy.

David Vail, Bowdoin College professor of economics and director emeritus of environmental studies at the college, and Daniel explained their research in an article, “Consumer Support for a Maine Woods Tourism Quality Label,” in the 2012 Volume 21, Issue 2 edition of the Maine Policy Review, published by the University of Maine Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center.

The next two state tourism conferences are March 19 in the Portland area and April 17 in the Bangor area.

Contact: Harold Daniel, 207.581.1933, or George Manlove, 207.581.3756