Look Out for ME: A Shared Promise

Look Out for ME: A Shared Promise

Maine’s wild beauty creates shared experiences and stories.

Destination: United States, New England

Organization: VisitMaine.com

Consumer website

Empowering your tourism stakeholders to support responsible tourism programs is a critical success factor for destination-wide benefits. Maine’s Office of Tourism and the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation are making it easier for tourism stakeholders to support responsible travel in Maine. 

Protecting Maine’s outdoor landscapes requires more than asking visitors to “do the right thing.” It also requires tourism organizations, local communities, and businesses to communicate a shared message about responsible travel. To support this effort, the Maine Office of Tourism and the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation developed the Look Out for ME initiative. 

The initiative brings together resources that promote destination stewardship, encourage responsible visitation, and support participation in a statewide campaign to protect Maine.

As a stewardship effort and a call-to-action campaign, Look Out for ME compiles resources and provides guidance for tourism businesses, local communities, and other partners on how to care for Maine’s culture, people, and places.

The toolkit includes practical materials to help Maine Tourism businesses and communities’ resources to promote responsible behavior.

The toolkit includes:

1. Digital and print assets
2. Social media templates and ready-to-use copy
3. On-property signage and wayfinding materials
4. Staff talking points and visitor education materials

By providing partners with practical communication tools, the initiative creates opportunity for businesses and partners to be consistent in their massaging to promote responsible behavior.

Lessons for DMOs

Look Out for ME initiative rather than relying only on visitor messaging, equips tourism businesses, local communities, and destination partners with practical resources to deliver consistent guidance and encourage responsible visitation throughout Maine.