The tourism and hospitality industry weighs in on Gov. Mills announcement

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Governor Mills’ announcement was met with optimism from those found in Maine’s tourism and hospitality industries.

“Economically tourism may be the core of Maine, it’s the backbone of Maine’s economy,” said CEO of the Maine Tourism Association Tony Cameron.

Starting in May, people from across the country can openly go to Maine and interior gathering capacity will increase to 75 percent.

The Maine Tourism Association welcomes the news headlines.

CEO Tony Cameron says this enables them to start planning the upcoming season.

“At least thus giving some businesses a bit more of a street map to be able to plan for those types of things. It is now time that Maine must be marketing as well and getting people to think about Maine and also to do it securely,” said Cameron.

President of Hospitality Maine Matthew Lewis says this means a whole lot to feel just like their voices were heard.

He says while some challenges remain for smaller restaurants, they understand that safety remains important.

“Folks have had to adjust to remove menus when their services had been dine found in and that sort of experience but they’ve adapted to it quite well. Now, will each goes back to what they performed before or will they continue what they were only available in this process,” said Lewis.

While outdoor gathering limits increase to 100 percent capacity with social distancing in May 24th, this isn’t the green mild for Waterfront Concerts in Bangor.

“This is a part of the proper direction but no i don’t think this means the music’s gonna play on in downtown Bangor in the summertime of 2021 at this time,” said Alex Gray with Waterfront Concerts.

Alex Grey says this even now limits their potential to 30 percent

“You’re really asking the artist to take a 70 percent fork out cut because so a lot of what we do paying them is based on the capability of the venue and the ticket price,” said Gray.

Gray says Waterfront Concerts has performances scheduled for July and August.

He says there are ongoing discussions with performers and control - and there’s a lot of time for change between now and those concert dates.
Source: https://www.wabi.tv

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