The Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce is stepping up its efforts this year to draw more people to visit and move to Bangor.
The Bangor City Council on Tuesday approved giving the chamber $4,000 each month for a year to fund a social media campaign designed to market the city to tourists and potential residents. The money will come from a $50,000 pot reserved for tourism and marketing efforts in the city’s current budget, according to Debbie Laurie, Bangor city manager.
The funding — totalling $48,000 by the end of the year — will cover the cost of contracting a company or individual to lead the campaign, according to Deb Neuman, president of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce.
Neuman doesn’t yet know how the chamber will measure the success of the campaign.
The award will also allow the Chamber of Commerce to hire a photographer to capture fresh photos of the city that “tell the story of this region,” Neuman said. Those photos will be used in social media posts and on other platforms.
The chamber is also planning to produce a visitors guide — called “Destination: Bangor, Maine” — this spring that will feature local resources and attractions. The guide will take the place of the visitors guide the Bangor Convention and Business Bureau used to publish prior to dissolving more than a year ago, Neuman said.
Bangor Convention and Business Bureau’s collapse “left a hole” in local tourism promotion efforts, Neuman said, and “it was a natural transition for the chamber to take on more of that role.”
The chamber doesn’t track visitor data, but Neuman said she has noticed an uptick in tourists in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some will come to Bangor for an event, such as a waterfront concert, then spend a few days in the city.
Others use Bangor as a home base, due to its more affordable lodging and dining options, and take day trips to other tourist destinations, such as Bar Harbor, Camden or Baxter State Park, Neuman said.
Typically, the chamber operates a visitors center that fields questions from tourists or people considering moving to the area. However, the organization hasn’t previously geared publications, like its annual membership guide, toward visitors.
“The chamber promotes the region as a place to move to and come to live,” Neuman said. “There’s a lot happening in Bangor. We have people walk in and say, ‘I haven’t been to Bangor in years and I didn’t realize how much is going on now.’”
