County invited to May 1 Tourism Summit
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Tourism Summit organizers understand that getting away from the workplace is difficult for most business owners and managers, particularly for a four-hour afternoon meeting; that’s why they’ve filled the summit’s agenda with hard-hitting business-relevant tourism information to make the event a worth-while experience.
Plus, lunch is on them.
“Them” in this instance is Aroostook County Tourism (ACT), an organization that promotes Aroostook County state and countrywide as a great place to visit, and they’re hoping to fill the summit with representatives from restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, chambers of commerce, unique tourism attractions and all facets of the lodging spectrum from bed and breakfasts to large hotels.
While ACT officials realize that some simply can’t get away from their desks for the free informative afternoon, there is one specific take-home fact that they want everyone to know:
“[ACT] is here for them,” said Leslie Jackson, regional tourism and IT design developer at the Northern Maine Development Commission, the organization that administratively oversees ACT. “We’re a resource and we want them to know what we do.”
“We want to express that Aroostook County Tourism is here and we have free marketing tools that are available to any tourism-related businesses,” she added, listing other free services like the visitaroostook.com website, one of the organization’s major tools.
Not only will ACT’s Tourism Summit at the Crows Nest in Presque Isle on Tuesday, May 1 connect participants with updates on what services the group has to offer all tourism-impacted businesses of The County, the event will share vital information about the new Northern Maine Tourism Action Plan and why it should matter to businesses.
“Tourism kind of touches everyone, and anybody with an interest in Aroostook County tourism and wants to see how Aroostook is marketed outside the region [is invited to attend the summit],” Jackson said.
Scheduled to spend time behind the podium during the event’s 11 a.m through 3 p.m. time slot to share locally-important tourism; information include guest speakers Debra Ward, executive consultant for InterVISTAS; Carolann Ouellette, director of the Maine Office of Tourism and Jason Parent, Maine international president of the 2014 World Acadian Congress (WAC).
Promoting Aroostook County is a timeless effort by ACT, but the 2014 WAC has a shelf-life that’s quickly approaching.
Jackson explained that Parent will be sharing specifics on the WAC, and what it means for northern Maine.
“While the event is [primarily] going to be held in the northern part of Aroostook County, there are going to be hundreds of family reunions with people traveling up through the state and through The County — everyone is going to be affected by the travelers and the tourists coming up through, and it’s going to be crucial to be knowledgeable of the Acadian Congress and what it’s all about [to share with tourists.]”
To help Aroostook put its best foot forward for all things tourism, ACT recently launched a customer service online training module called “Welcome ME,” which helps hone the customer service skills of folks working the front lines of tourism.
This is the first Tourism Summit held by ACT, and Jackson explained that the event was basically founded through the process of developing the ACT strategic action plan and the ensuing discussions ACT officials had with folks all around the region.
“We felt it was important to share more information [about ATC] with the people in Aroostook County,” she said.
Individuals interested in attending the free event are asked to RSVP by Friday, April 27 by contacting Judy Dinsmore at jdinsmore@nmdc.org or calling either 498-8736 or 1-800-427-8736.
