OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The roads are full of cars, some parked, others avoiding the kids, teens and adults running across the road. Parking lots charge a minimum of $20 for a spot even mildly close to the pier. Tourists drive slowly, trying to find an open spot so they can make their way to the beach.

It’s the week of two summer holidays: the Fourth of July for the United States and Canada Day for visitors from the north. With clear skies and warm weather, the streets are still crawling with visitors, despite a trend of decreased traffic across the Canadian border.

Mainers, particularly those who live near tourist-heavy spots like Old Orchard Beach, are no strangers to the increased traffic and prices that arrive like clockwork alongside the tourists each summer.

“I think they’re a necessity for us to survive,” said Peter Duhamel, the owner of Dewey’s restaurant.

But how much do these vacationers actually affect Vacationland’s population, traffic and revenue each year? We dug into some of the numbers.

Maine’s population is 1.4 million, but an extra 7.7 million people came to the state in summer 2024, according to the Maine Office of Tourism 2024 Summer Visitor Tracking Report. These visitors stayed an average of 4.6 nights, with the majority staying more than one night.

Outside of Maine, most visitors came from Massachusetts, with 60% of all 2024 tourists coming from those two states, plus six others: New York, New Hampshire, Florida, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Only 7% of 2024 summer tourists traveled from Canada, despite towns like Old Orchard Beach seeing many tourists from the country, according to the 2024 Maine Tourism Report.

Acadia National Park, another of Maine’s major tourist destinations, saw 3.96 million visitors in 2024, according to the National Park Service’s visitor use statistics. The Office of Tourism reported that Down East and the Acadia region earned $1.3 billion from direct expenditures last year.

Although some towns like Old Orchard Beach heavily rely on Canadian tourism, only 5% of all Maine tourists in 2024 came from Canada. Those numbers could be even lower this year. In May, around 85,000 fewer Canadians crossed into Maine, following a trend that began when President Donald Trump returned to office and publicly mused about making Canada “the 51st state.”

Though Duhamel recognizes some problems the tourists can sometimes bring, such as additional crime and “annoying situations,” he acknowledges that towns like Old Orchard Beach — and businesses like his — rely heavily on tourists.

“They bring money to our town — especially this town,” he said. “Especially the Canadians. Canadians are a big part of our income.”

In 2024, tourists in Maine spent more than $9.2 billion, with over half coming from just the summer, according to the state tourism report. Tourists spent nearly half of all 2024 spending on accommodations and restaurants, totaling about $4.5 billion. Over $2.9 billion was spent on shopping and entertainment.

It’ll take months, probably well into next year, to know the full impact of this year’s season. The tourism office typically doesn’t release data until March or April.

TRAFFIC AND PARKING

The increase in traffic that irks Mainers across the state every summer is perhaps the most visible sign of tourists.

Around 3 million more drivers travel on the Maine Turnpike in July and August than in January and February, according to the Maine Turnpike Authority.

Projects that slow down traffic must be carefully planned and timed to minimize their impact, said Joyce Noel Taylor, the chief engineer with the Maine Department of Transportation. That requires MaineDOT to assess factors like safety, traffic volume, seasonal and daily patterns, and weather, Taylor said — all of which are affected by the summer.

“If closing the road allows the project to be completed in three weeks instead of two months, we weigh that option against traffic volume and detour impacts to determine what makes the most sense for the traveling public and the surrounding community,” Taylor said.

Especially in beach towns, local roads often feel more clogged than highways because of how much smaller they are, said Duhamel, who has both owned Dewey’s and lived in Old Orchard Beach year-round for nearly 30 years.

“It’s hard to pull out of my driveway sometimes, just because there’s cars everywhere,” said Duhamel, who lives on Atlantic Avenue, a busy residential street by downtown.

Suzanne Ellis, the manager of Johnny Shucks Maine Lobster in Old Orchard Beach, moved to town five years ago after visiting from Massachusetts. She fell in love with the area, the selection of food — and even the droves of tourists.

Ellis said her primary concern when the influx of visitors arrives each summer is safety on the crowded streets, not how much her own travel is affected by traffic.

“I worry mostly about the little kids because people drive way too fast on these streets,” Ellis said. “The tourists come in here, and they don’t necessarily walk on the crosswalks.”

However, the one thing Ellis doesn’t like about the summer in Old Orchard Beach: the parking.

“I feel bad for everybody trying to park here,” she said. “It’s very expensive. You can’t park on the street here at all.”

INCOME AND WEATHER

For cities along the southern Maine coast like Old Orchard Beach and Ogunquit, tourism is one of the largest sources of income.

Ogunquit sustains its general fund by the seasonal revenue from tourists, raking in more than $3 million from parking alone, said Mandy Cummings, the town’s assistant manager and treasurer.

Though the summer generally gives Ogunquit the money it needs to supply itself throughout the rest of the year, it comes at a cost for employees. Workers face a heavier workload because of staffing shortages and the mass influx of visitors, Cummings said.

“The mental fatigue that comes with this pace is real, and supporting our employees through it is a constant priority,” she said.

Cummings said the fluctuating population can be a balancing act with the drastic changes; Ogunquit has a year-round population of about 1,500 but hosts over 20,000 visitors per day in the summer months.

“It can be especially difficult to maintain appropriate staffing levels, essentially operating like a small city for part of the year and a quiet village for the rest,” she said.

For Yehoshua Dichter, the owner of Sea The Sun, a T-shirt store in Old Orchard Beach, the influx of people is only a positive. He lives in Florida for most of the year, but for 29 years, he and his wife have come up to Maine during the summer to run the store.

Dichter goes about his day cheerfully greeting customers from all over the world, offering T-shirts that range from Taylor Swift to Old Orchard Beach-branded merchandise. Dichter knows he can rely on the tourists “always (coming) to the beach in summertime.” His only hope is that it doesn’t rain.

For 12 consecutive Saturdays from April to mid-June this year, it rained in Maine. With only so many weekends in tourist season, seasonal businesses often struggle if they have to close because of rain.

Even with all the rain, though, Duhamel said he hopes for the best when it comes to the tourism business and will stay patient — something he says is the mark of a local.

“Tourists can be impatient,” he said. “Mainers, we know what to expect.”