MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 17, 2020
It’s a brutal question: What is the value of Maine’s summer tourist economy – not in dollars, but in human lives? There’s no simple answer. Maine hotels and other accommodations took in just over $800 million between May and September of last year, representing 64 percent of the industry’s annual revenue. During the same period, restaurant receipts totaled more than $1.3 billion, almost half their yearly income. But the more out-of-state visitors Maine receives in the next three or four months, the more Maine’s COVID-19 death count – now at 70 – will rise. We must all ask ourselves that gut-wrenching question, one rooted more in basic morality than in seasonal economics: In the frantic effort to save Vacationland, how many deaths will be too many? ~ Bill Nemitz