Travel Market Segments
Official Convention and Visitors Bureau for Greater Portland, Maine
Visit Portland is the only Convention + Visitors Bureau (CVB) in the state of Maine. A CVB is an organization that promotes a town, city, region, or country in order to increase the number of visitors across market segments (leisure, meetings, weddings, international/travel trade, media, etc). Visit Portland promotes the development, marketing, and management of Greater Portland, Maine (and beyond) as a not-for-profit organization representing the region – enhancing the long-term development of communities through a travel and tourism strategy. The organization is partner-based, bringing businesses together who are supported by tourism to foster a better community and destination for all who come to experience it.
Travel Market Segments
Through a sophisticated marketing and public relations media strategy – supported by a team of seasoned tourism professionals – millions of visitors, meeting + event planners, brides, and tour operators learn about our destination throughout the year. Ultimately, Visit Portland brings these travelers to our region which generates billions of dollars to the local economy.
As a private, non-profit destination marketing organization, we spend more than one million dollars annually to promote or region. This takes a team of committed businesses, including you, working jointly with Visit Portland to ensure that every traveler finds the perfect destination – The Greater Portland Casco Bay Region of Maine!
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LEISURE + TOURISM MARKETING
We tell an inviting story about our destination through print, radio, TV, online, and tradeshow marketing, all designed to attract individual travelers, couples, and family vacationers to Maine. Our top-notch website and informative Visitor’s Guide offers rich content and alluring photography. Our Authentic By Nature tag line is used to its fullest when we describe the working waterfront, historic and cultural museums, the notoriety of our culinary expertise, and our neighborhood-style shopping districts.
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GROUP MEETINGS MARKETING
Meetings and conferences can be the great equalizer for our busy summer tourism season as many meetings take place from November through April. Our Event Planner’s Guide offers a myriad of suggestions for successfully holding a meeting in Maine. This publication, coupled with our informative website and the expert services of our professional conference marketing team who attend trade shows around the country and diligently follow up with prospective planners, results in continuous new meetings and conferences to the Greater Portland Casco Bay Region.
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PUBLIC RELATIONS + MEDIA MARKETING
Foodiest Small Town in America, Most Blissful City to Visit, and Most Romantic City – the list goes on and on. Through the efforts of Visit Portland’s public relations initiatives, these accolades continue to keep our destination in front of the traveling public and on numerous “top pick” lists. High-quality photography, familiarization tours for journalists, press releases, and story pitches result in far-reaching publicity for the Greater Portland Casco Bay Region.
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CRUISE SHIP MARKETING
Visit Portland is part of Discover Portland & Beyond, which is a cruise marketing consortium, working with the City of Portland, Portland’s Downtown District, FreeportUSA, Kennebunk/Kennebunkport and the Portland Chambers of Commerce. Together we actively promote the Port of Portland and our shore excursion partners to the cruise lines and their passengers. Bringing cruise ships into Portland and then connecting the passengers to our destinations is a key economic development strategy benefiting the Greater Portland Casco Bay Region and beyond.
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MOTORCOACH MARKETING
The motorcoach market is an important element in Maine’s tourism industry. Motorcoaches bring over $1.9 billion into the state’s economy and $13 billion into New England as a whole. By attending tradeshows, assisting with familiarization trips, and creating relationships with tour operators, Visit Portland is working to ensure that tour operators always keep Maine and the Greater Portland Region on the top of their minds and included in tour itineraries.
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SPORTS MARKETING
There are more than 3,500 sporting events annually looking for a location to hold their events from baseball and basketball to skating and soccer. These events not only mean healthy people but they mean a healthy economy. Visit Portland is actively working on attracting these groups to Maine, side by side with the newly developed Maine Sports Commission, attending trade shows, contacting sports organizations, and arranging site visits for interested parties. We’re making the Greater Portland Region a sports destination.
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WEDDINGS MARKETING
With nearly 25 percent of brides choosing to have a destination wedding, Visit Portland is actively working with brides to increase our share of the destination wedding market. These events often expand from a one-day event to week-long extravaganzas that include reunions for family and friends, and extended stays for the bride and groom’s honeymoon. We are helping brides plan all aspects of their authentic Maine wedding.
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INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Each year, the U.S. welcomes international visitors (via tour operators and receptives) who make substantial contributions to the travel and tourism industry. Many of these visitors explore New England, drawn by its unique charm and offerings. International visitors typically stay longer and spend more than their domestic counterparts, often traveling during the shoulder seasons when tourism is more needed. Working closely with the Maine Office of Tourism, Visit Portland strategically targets this lucrative market to enhance the economic impact on our region of Maine.