BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 11, 2021
Vacation rentals like Airbnbs can be controversial in cities — they take business away from local hotels, evade occupancy taxes and are often linked to gentrification, for instance. But in rural economies in Maine, vacation rentals provide extra revenue for farms while also providing much-needed services. The income from farm-related agritourism in Maine nearly quintupled between 2012 and 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Vacation rentals are a big part of that.