Dear Community Partner,

Every destination across the globe is vying for tourism and convention business, and competition is fierce. As the world’s travel and tourism industry attempts to pull out of the economic crisis of 2020 and 2021, we are facing our competition at a significant financial disadvantage.

After 40 years as the official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO)—charged with marketing the Greater Portland region for visitation—Visit Portland finds ourselves at a crossroads.

Visit Portland, Maine is one of only a handful of DMOs nationwide that is not primarily supported by public funding from a portion of lodging tax dollars. Relying solely on partnership and advertising revenues from local businesses means we have substantially fewer marketing resources to attract leisure and business travelers year-round.

It has been said that; “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” With that in mind, we offer up for your consideration the following document, which identifies the challenges we face in marketing Greater Portland as a tourism destination and provides a solution that has been embraced by hundreds of other Destination Marketing Organizations around the country.

The solution: A Tourism Improvement District.

Visit Portland has been working over the last few years to establish a Tourism Improvement District that will assist with these challenges for our community.

We encourage you to review this document and provide a statement of support as we move forward through the City Council.

Thank you,

Lynn Tillotson
President & CEO
Visit Portland, Maine