I read the May 8 article “Who visited Maine in 2025, and how much did they spend?” hoping to get the lowdown on Maine’s recent tourist visitation and economic impact. By the end of the article, I felt confused and misled.

We’re told that, despite a 4.4% decline in visitor numbers, at least tourist spending increased by 1.4%. With a positive spin, those figures might suggest that Maine’s economy can benefit from more tourism revenue without enduring more tourist congestion. It’s also encouraging that more tourists visited economically lagging non-coastal destinations.

The problem with a 2024-2025 snapshot comparison is that it fails to account for adverse longer-term trends and price inflation. In fact, visitor numbers have declined steadily from a post-pandemic peak of 15.6 million in 2021 to last year’s 14.8 million, an 8% drop. And, accounting for the overall rise in consumer prices, “real” tourist spending in 2025 was 1.6% lower than in 2024 and 2.6% below the 2022 peak. This looks worse than stagnation.

Granted, there was a significant drop in Canadian visitors last year, in reaction to the Trump tariffs. But the dismal five-year trends suggest that we are not effectively developing or promoting quality “products” and destinations that could make tourism a dynamic part of Maine’s economy.

David Vail
Brunswick