PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Maine could establish a grant program to help the state tourism and hospitality industries that have suffered from the coronavirus pandemic.
Kennebunk’s Democratic Senator Joe Rafferty has tabled a proposal that will allow tourism and hospitality businesses that have lost revenue due to the pandemic to apply for the grants. Rafferty said the grants were funded by federal funds Maine received earlier this year.
Rafferty said the state’s tourism industry is “a big part of our economy, but an even bigger part of who we are”. He quoted the license plates in the state of Vacationland.
One in six jobs in Maine is related to the tourism industry, Rafferty said. Industry accounts for more than 10% of the state’s economic output at $ 6.2 billion a year, he said.
The proposal will be voted on in the Legislative Committee.
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