Around the world, Maine has always been well known for being a premier summer vacation spot. The tourism industry brings in hundreds of millions each year. One vital portion of this industry is Maine’s exclusive summer camps for kids. Each year thousands of kids are dropped off by their parents from around the globe, for three to six week summer camp sessions.
Popular camps include Camp Kieve, Camp Laurel, Camp Vega, and Camp Manitou. The camp rates range from $6,000 to over $13,000 for a one month secession. Camp Laurel in Mt. Vernon, starts at $12,800 with additional packages such as a $1,000 equestrian option. In a 2012 article, The Portland Press Herald noted that the 330 summer camps in Maine generated $332 million for Maine’s economy, which includes over 500 full time positions and over 10,500 seasonal positions.
In addition to Maine camps, The summer camp industry brings in a total of over $3.2 billion to the North East economy and over $8 billion when including related costs. Popular weekends, such as drop off day, parents visiting day, and pick up day bring thousands of parents to the state, flooding local airports, hotels, and restaurants. Restaurants and Hotels reap the benefits of these weekends with record numbers for occupancy and sales. Business owners from around the state mark these dates on their calendars every year and wait anxiously.
Throughout the summer, locals and business owners express their feelings about the overcrowded towns, lack of parking, and attitudes of out of staters, but in the end, without these vibrant summer industries, the state would not be what is today.
At Opus Consulting Group, we work with many clients throughout the state that benefit from this industry. We work together to analyze financials and monthly performance in order to find market opportunities or areas in need of improvement. Is your business capitalizing on this influx of visitors?
