TIMES RECORD • December 8, 2021
Amid an ongoing pandemic, Maine’s tourism and hospitality industry appears to be bouncing back, in large part due to a slight increase in the number of people visiting the state this summer. A little over 10 million people visited Maine between May and August 2021, which exceeded the number of tourists during the same period in 2019 by a slim 2.4% in comparison to the 32% drop in visitors Maine saw in 2020. Sean Riley, the president of Maine Course Hospitality Group, which operates 13 hotels across Maine, said 2020 was a horrific year for them, but 2021 is better. “The first part of the year was still weaker than 2019, and the second half of the year was closer to 2019 in terms of business in most of our hotels,” said Riley. “In the second half of the year, we were back to somewhat normal.”