Staff Writer 

There may still be a few weeks before all of the snow and ice melts, but for those in the tourist industry, spring marks the beginning of preparation for the summer tourist season. After 14 years in the business, Kennebunk resident and Lady J Sportfishing Charters Captain Adam Littell said watching the weather will be a major part of his job this summer.

“Everybody waits until the last minute to book because they’re all worried about the weather. We’ll be lucky if we get something by Memorial Day and we’ll have maybe a little going on in September,” he said. “It’s been getting tougher and tougher – they never used to worry about the weather.”

Littell said chartering sport fishing boats has transitioned from a full-time seasonal commitment to a part-time job partly due to the large number of other captains getting into the business – captains like Richard Crosby in Buxton, who started offering fishing tours aboard the Jillian II three summers ago. Crosby said the most difficult part of charting part-time is scheduling around weather and other work schedules.

“I don’t really pursue it as a full-time career, just weekends and vacations,” Crosby said. “Last year I did about nine trips, which for a part-time guy isn’t that bad.”

Additional competition combined with an unprecedented economic climate makes the chartering business particularly susceptible to tough times, Littell said.

“The hotels are doing OK and the camping grounds are doing phenomenal, but people are doing free stuff. They’re going to the beach or having a cookout,” he said. “If we can turn the economy around, the chartering is going to turn around.”

Despite what mariners may think, Maine Innkeepers Association Executive Director Greg Duvall said last year’s summer lodging rates were down nearly 1 percent.

“It was the first negative number since we’ve been keeping track, and that was in 1986,” he said. “It’s not a trend we want to continue.”

In February, Duvall said experts predicted a 6 percent decline in occupancy for the state’s 2009 summer tourist season.

“There’s no doubt about it, there is decreased occupancy,” he said. “We are in a dry market.”

Maine Tourism Association Advertising Sales and Membership Representative Michael Conley said he’s found ways to stay positive about the upcoming tourist season despite the predictions. 

“This winter the ski slopes did extremely well, and a lot of people will say ‘That’s because we had a lot of snow,’ but they can make snow,” he said. 

“There was an increase in season ticket sales before the snow even came, which is a great barometer for me.”

Both Conley and Duvall agree this past ski season was a clear indicator that people are staying closer to home and with gas prices half what they were this time last year, Conley said those who work in the tourism industry have reason to believe in a stellar season.

“People are staying in their backyard, but Maine is within 500 miles of Montreal and New York,” he said. “With gas prices down and likely to stay that way, Maine has a price point for everyone.”

Ultimately, Duvall said it is next to impossible to predict what summer will bring, especially in times when people are more likely to wait until the last possible minute to make vacation plans.

“I’ve got six weeks until I hit the water and that’s when people start thinking about it,” Crosby said. “When the phone rings, you just never know.”