Tag Archives: tourism

Pike’s peak: Toll data signals better Maine tourism season

If you’ve felt the Maine Turnpike is more crowded than last year, it’s not just you. Traffic through the first two weekends of busiest August was up about 1.6 percent and passenger traffic (cars, motorcycles and buses with fewer than 13 passengers) was up more than 5 percent from January-July. The latest figures are one sign that Maine’s tourism season […]

Does a weak loonie put a dent in Canadian tourism to Maine?

The Canadian dollar is at its weakest since December 2005. But the loonie’s current slump, to about 77 cents to the U.S. dollar Wednesday, comes at an unusual time of year: the peak season for Canadian tourism to Maine. That has some in the hospitality industry concerned that Canadian tourists will forego trips or curtail spending on their vacations, as the Canadian dollar […]

Canadian dollar holds steady against greenback through June jobs report

The Canadian dollar, the loonie, has remained relatively steady against the U.S. dollar despite projections of a decline in value after release of a jobs report last week. On Memorial Day, photographer Troy Bennett and I headed to Old Orchard Beach to speak with retailers and hoteliers about the exchange rate with Canada — which is lower, at around $0.91, than recent years […]