BAR HARBOR — Value “continues to be king,” when it comes to attracting tourists to Maine, Carolann Ouelette, director of the Maine Office of Tourism told members of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce last week.

Speaking at a Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Eggs and Issues breakfast at the Bar Harbor Club, Ms. Ouelette was joined by Vaughn Stinson of the Maine Tourism Association, Greg Dugal of the Maine Innkeepers Association and Curtis Picard of the Maine Merchants Association.

According to Ms. Ouelette, when tourism businesses can “evoke an emotional connection,” between Maine and the visitor, people tend to stay here longer and spend more.

Converting aspirations of coming to Maine into visitation is the key task at hand she continued. Most folks have a favorable opinion about the state and hope to visit one day. “It’s a bucket list kind of thing,” she said.

The two prime areas of focus include acquisition, getting folks to come in the first place, and retention, convincing them to come again. Fortunately, Ms. Ouelette said, Maine has a very high rating with folks who have come before. “It’s very strong, in the high 80 percent,” she said.

Tourism promotion now is directed at regional markets which are home to more than 30 million people. “Maine needs to become an antidote for something that’s missing in people’s lives,” Ms. Ouelette said.

According to Mr. Stinson, tourism is a powerful economic force in Maine. It generated $414 million in taxes for the state’s general fund last year. And that didn’t count taxes on sales generated by folks on day trips, he added.

Visitation for 2012 is already up 11 percent over the first quarter of 2011.

“The industry is directly responsible for 108,000 jobs,” he pointed out.

He praised Bar Harbor as having one of the top ratings in Maine for visitor experience. “We very rarely hear a complaint about an experience in the Bar Harbor area,” he said, adding that the last documented complaint was 14 years ago.

Mr. Dugal told attendees that it is key that businesses, especially lodging establishments, make their websites compatible for use by those with smart phones and tablets. “You’ve got to be involved in mobile. Within five years 80 percent of search will be done on mobile,” he said.

Even if sales in Bar Harbor were relatively flat last year, the area was fortunate, he said. “You’re still ahead of everyone else in the state.”

According to Mr. Picard, surveys show some improvement in the retail sales outlook for 2012. “We’ve seen a return to spending on electronics and luxury items in the past year,” he said. He attributed that fact to a pent up demand over the recent tough economic times. “My advice to you is to continue to invest in technology,” he said.

He noted that in June, rules about how much merchandise Canadian shoppers can go home with duty free will change. It is being increased from $200 a day to $800 per day. “That will undoubtedly help,” he said.

In response to a question about concerns about high gasoline prices, the panelists agreed that while folks may cut back on some discretionary spending when here, they will still come. Mr. Vaughn noted that concerns about being able to get fuel would be a bigger problem than the price.

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