Maine saw more tourists than expected over Memorial Day weekend
May 27—A chilly, wet forecast threatened to dampen Memorial Day weekend travel in Maine, but preliminary numbers from the Maine Turnpike Authority show a few gloomy days weren't enough to keep tourists away.
The turnpike recorded more than 1 million vehicle "transactions" between Friday and Monday, putting it on par with recent years. Officials originally predicted fewer than 1 million transactions.
Friday was the busiest day, with 343,346 of the 1,008,400 trips.
Erin Courtney, turnpike authority spokesperson, said that most travelers at the Kennebunk service plaza on Saturday said they were headed to Acadia National Park.
People who booked a trip months ago "are not going to cancel everything based on the weather," she said. "More likely, the folks that live in Maine probably weren't doing as much travel."
This year's numbers reflect a slight decrease from 2024's 1,011,200 vehicles, but this year's total could surpass last year's once all the numbers are tallied. Last year, more than 5,000 transactions were added between the preliminary and final counts.
Gas prices could have also played a role in better-than-expected turnpike traffic.
Nationally, gas prices last weekend were the lowest Memorial Day weekend prices since 2021, and, if adjusted for inflation, the lowest in nearly a decade, according to AAA. Heading into the weekend, Maine had an average price at the pump of $3.05 per gallon, compared to about $3.17 nationally.
National gas prices were around $3.59 over the same weekend in 2024 and $4.60 in 2022.
The last few years have been "banner" years for Memorial Day weekend travel, Courtney said, but 2019 still holds the record with 1,014,225 vehicles. Traffic plummeted in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the turnpike recorded just 564,000 vehicles.
It's too soon to say whether the stronger-than-expected traffic numbers will correlate with a booming summer tourist season, but Courtney said that historically, a good season has followed a strong start.
"It's pretty encouraging that given a less than ideal forecast, we still had good numbers," she said.
Maine's busiest summer communities are gearing up for an uncertain season, as travelers grapple with an unsteady economy and polarizing political climate that could have some Canadian visitors staying home.
Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, said advanced bookings are tracking closely to last year, with many businesses feeling optimistic.
"At the same time, there's an awareness of ongoing uncertainties, and businesses are staying mindful of evolving trends and traveler behavior," he said in an emailed statement.
The number of tourists visiting Maine has been declining, though the money they spend has increased.
Last year, an estimated 7.75 million travelers visited Maine and spent $5.1 billion, according to the Maine Office of Tourism. That's a 9.1% decrease in visitors but a 9.7% increase in the amount of money spent per traveler compared to the year before.
The Maine Office of Tourism launched its 2025 summer campaign early, "knowing that competition for domestic visitors will be strong this summer," Carolann Ouellette, director of the Maine Office of Tourism said in a news release.
While it's typically seen as the official kickoff to summer, Memorial Day Weekend is not Maine's busiest travel day.
It's usually in the top five, Courtney said, wedged somewhere between Labor Day, which is always the busiest and the first two weekends in August. The Fourth of July and Indigenous People's Day are also often busy.
Nationally, AAA predicted a record-breaking weekend for travel, with 45.1 million people traveling at least 50 miles from home between May 22 and May 26. Updated numbers were not available Tuesday.
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