Bar Harbor chamber eyes expanded events to increase off-season visitations.
Courtesy / Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce
The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce is looking to expand shoulder-season visitors with expanded autumn events and marketing. The November bed race is a long-time event.
The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce is expanding its roster of autumn and winter events, as well as its marketing strategy, in a push to increase off-season visitation.
The goal is to make it financially viable for more local hotels and businesses to stay open beyond late fall or throughout the year, the chamber’s executive director, Alf Anderson, told Mainebiz.
Many downtown businesses currently close shop at the end of October, and shoulder season events aim to boost the local economy during an otherwise slow period.
Some events have been around for 20 years or more. They include the chamber’s November Early Bird Pajama Sale and Bed Races, which involves shopping sales and competitive “bed racing” along one of the downtown streets.
This year, the chamber is partnering with the Criterion Theater, also located in the downtown, for a “movie in your PJs” as a follow-up later in the day.
In the past, Anderson said, folks have mostly gone their own way after the morning attractions.
“We’re trying to find a way to keep them in the downtown area, have lunch or brunch, and then the Criterion is planning a double feature,” he said. “It’s another way for families and people to spend time together in the downtown area.”
Another long-time event is the chamber’s December Village Holidays Celebration and Sale, which aims to position Bar Harbor as a festive holiday destination.
Many participants in the events are locals; one of the chamber's goals is to expand awareness of the events to folks beyond the local community.
“They’re fun traditions that we’re hoping to build on in order to expand beyond the local community and entice visitors to enjoy in the late fall and early winter,” Anderson said.
The pajama sale and bed race already have a certain cachet.
“For years, we’ve been getting calls earlier and earlier from people from elsewhere in Maine or the country, asking when the early bird sale and bed race would take place, so they could start making travel plans,” Anderson said.
Those calls might come in as early as February and March.
“That’s really encouraging,” he continued. “We do know there’s a good mix of local residents and visitors who come out and watch the bed race.”
One telltale sign? Spectators can be seen in bathrobes emblazoned with local hotel logos.
Other than 2020, the number of shops participating in the pajama sale ranged from 30 to 40. The downtown area has about 120 businesses.
“Some places might have closed for the season, but that’s good participation,” Anderson said. “I anticipate that happening again this year.”
At its peak, the bed race attracted 12 to 15 teams.
“That’s been down a little the past few years,” he said.
But a plan is afoot to get the number up again. The chamber partnered this year with the local Bar Harbor Inn, which is supplying additional beds that any team can use. The chamber thinks the race will attract 10 to 15 teams this year.
The race is quirky. Teams sponsored by local businesses and organizations race beds mounted on wheels along a short course, navigate an obstacle to make the turn, and race back.
Anderson isn’t sure how the idea got started, but it dates back nearly 30 years.
“It’s so much fun,” he added.
There’s no official data on the number of shoppers, local or otherwise, generated by the events. But it’s estimated that last year’s bed race drew over 1,000 spectators.
Expanded marketing includes working with PR firm Marshall Communications to generate press and social media.
“We’ll do targeted social media advertising in the great New England area,” Anderson said.
There’s some additional messaging opportunity, he said, in the fact that some of Acadia National Park is still accessible through the year for activities such as hiking and cross-country skiing.
The overall goal?
“We have great events with a strong base and we’re trying to get more businesses to continue to participate and continue to be open,” Anderson said. “I see it as an, ‘If we build it, they will come’ mentality. If we give the restaurants and shops a reason to stay open those three months, I’m confident customers will come.”
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