WILLOW CREEK — The town’s tourism economy cannot survive on summer weekends alone, Selectwoman Eleanor Vance told the Board of Selectmen Monday as she unveiled a proposed five-year year-round tourism strategy.
The plan targets four distinct seasonal pillars: spring paddling and Ice-Out programming, summer trail and fishing activities, fall foliage and harvest events, and winter recreation anchored by cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on the Mattawamkeag River Trail.
“We get a surge from Memorial Day through Labor Day, then six months of trickle,” Vance said. “A general store, a restaurant, and a flooring mill cannot sustain a year-round economy on a twelve-week season.”
The strategy calls for dedicated marketing budgets for each shoulder season, investment in winter trail grooming equipment, and partnerships with regional tourism organizations such as the Aroostook County Tourism Council.
Niall O’Flaherty of O’Flaherty’s Maple, who attended the presentation, said winter programming particularly interests him. “Mud season is our slowest time at the sugarhouse. If we can draw people here in February for skiing and maple sugaring demonstrations, that changes the math for family farms like mine.”
The plan estimates annual tourism revenue could increase from the current $3.2 million to $5.8 million by 2029 if the strategy is implemented. A public hearing is scheduled for August 12 at the town hall.