The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Havana.
BAR HARBOR—Bar Harbor wants to make tourism more sustainable, but first it has to figure out exactly what that means. A town task force is working on a plan to balance local life, the environment, and an economy that is partially driven by more than 4 million annual visits to Acadia National Park.
Bar Harbor’s effort to define what “sustainable tourism” means for a town that hosts millions of visitors a year (and where many depend on those visitors for their livelihoods) may be as complex as the tides that shape its shores.
A task force appointed by the Town Council is now trying to answer a deceptively simple question: How can Bar Harbor protect its sense of community and environment while welcoming the crowds that sustain it?
The task force is meant to give the town council recommendations about the town’s future as it relates to tourism.
What exactly will go in that report will be determined by the process. Its members were appointed by the Bar Harbor Town Council in April. The town council had approved the task force during its January 21 meeting.
One of the task force’s first steps will be to understand and define “sustainable tourism.”
J.E. Austin Associates’ Michele McKenzie and Ben Nussbaumer led the group through how its work links to the recently approved comprehensive plan (meant to lead the town through its future decisions, particularly about land use) and a draft definition of sustainable tourism meant to be sent to the public to solicit comment.
HOW THE TASK FORCE WORKS WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
“The need for a sustainable tourism management plan was really identified as one of the actions under the comprehensive plan,” McKenzie said.
Nussbaumer, Zooming in from Armenia, said that the plan was tied into growing the community in a healthy way, respecting the town’s identity, beauty and quality of life.
He also read the plan’s vision statement.
“It recognizes tourism,” he said, but also mentions that tourism is just one part of the town’s economy.
That vision statement reads, “Bar Harbor’s vibrancy stems from the mix of people and the dramatic natural and cultural beauty of our place. Together, we build upon our diverse economic strengths and, through partnerships, we create solutions that meet year-round and seasonal needs. Our resilient and sustainable community includes sufficient equitable housing, robust infrastructure, and efficient transportation. We work through our differences to strengthen our collective sense of community. We take care of each other, and we take care of our place.”
The comprehensive plan recognizes the need for tourism management but also talks about equity and sustainability and a need for tourism management that is mutually beneficial and contributes to a healthy and vibrant year-round community.
Task Force Chair Vicki Hall said she was confused by the concept that tourism should be mutually beneficial. The industry is the driver of the economy, she said, and everyone does already benefit from it as it would from any economic driver.
“If our economic driver was Bath Ironworks, I would say that everyone benefits from that industry,” Hall said.
Another member of the task force then added that Bath Ironworks or tourism also has negative climate impacts.
“I think that some point in the process we have to agree or disagree that tourism is the driver of the local economy and then it does benefit everyone in some way,” Hall said.
McKenzie said that the questions Hall was asking were the questions the group will eventually address, such as the business side of tourism and all of its impacts.
Bar Harbor Planning Director Michele Gagnon said that it goes back to a tax stabilization goal of the the town council and the feeling many residents have that they pay taxes and maybe the services provided benefitting the tourists feels like more than the benefit to property holders.
According to a National Park Service report released in September, Acadia National Park region, in 2024, 4 million park visits ended up with visitors spending “an estimated $539 million in local gateway regions while visiting Acadia National Park. These expenditures supported a total of 5,300 jobs, $243 million in labor income, $460 million in value added, and $745 million in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding Acadia National Park.”
The year-round economy comes from College Of the Atlantic, MDI Biological Laboratory (MDIBL), Jackson Laboratory (JAX), the school system and the hospital system, all nonprofits, Gagnon said. Those need to be remembered when thinking about the community. “Sometimes people forget the importance of the existing year-round economy in the town of Bar Harbor.”
The town’s Existing Conditions Report (2022) stated, “The presence of large institutions and employers like MDI Hospital, College of the Atlantic, The Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory are unique for a community of this size.“
According to a report produced by JAX in 2024, it had an overall economic impact of $434.1 million and an average salary of over $78k in Maine.
The Existing Conditions Report went on to say, “Although the two facets of Bar Harbor’s economy co-exist, there are tensions in the community regarding the economic impact provided, taxes paid, amount of municipal services required, and perceived transportation and infrastructure impacts. The diverging viewpoints on the inherent value of the different facets of the local economy appear to be creating different factions within the community—those that support the tourism-based sectors and continued growth and those that would prefer to see more year-round businesses grow and thrive. With limited land and resources, the town will need to define its economic pathway and work on it together.”
Hall said she remembered back in previous town work that there was decisions that there was, already, a year-round economy.
According to the Existing Conditions Report, there are five major industries in Bar Harbor: scientific, and technical service; accommodations and food services; educational services; health care and social assistance; and retail trade.
“In 2021, Bar Harbor’s businesses employed an estimated 5,401 people of which 80% were employed in these five primary industry sectors,” the report states. “In 2021, 31% of the workforce in Bar Harbor were part of the professional, scientific, and technical services industry sector and 25% were part of the accommodation and food services sector, representing the largest industry sectors in town.“
Nussbaumer said the business community is welcome to engage in different avenues for the public via community engagement and is not meant to be shut out.
“This is an inclusive process,” Nussbaumer said. “I know how valuable the business community is in communities. When we think about thriving communities, it also mean that you have healthy economies.”
DEFINING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
After working with task force members feedback from the last meeting about the United Nations’ definition of sustainable tourism, McKenzie took away feedback themes and pointers.
“This is not the final version, but a version that you are comfortable with to ask the community as part of the survey that we do whether this definition is something that they see meets the needs of a sustainable tourism task force plan,” McKenzie said of the definition she put before the task force, Wednesday.
McKenzie then asked each member to give feedback about the definition before it is sent into the community as part of a survey.
Task Force member Michael Boland said the third paragraph was repetitive.
“It’s too long,” he said. “I’m looking for editing and more clarity. I’d rather see the first part get right to economic vitality along with visitor activity” and the other elements.
Task Force member Jim Glavine also said that it needs to be simplified a bit, but that it was a good first shot.
Vice Chair Enoch Albert wanted to make sure that the definition spoke to future generations, others worried about the term “meaningful” being too vague.
A new version will be drafted and go out to the town in a survey. It will circulate to the task force members via email and then members will individually send thoughts back to Gagnon.
Gagnon did not want there to be emails back and forth which would be an unadvertised meeting. Comments on an updated version would go to her.
If there was a majority of members who told Gagnon that they were okay with it being sent out, then it would be sent out for feedback in the survey.
The survey itself is waiting for that definition. It will be online via PolCo and there will be a paper option as well. It is meant to collect feedback about the sustainable tourism definition and expectations of the plan.
“This is what we’re waiting for,” McKenzie said.
However, other work is also being done. The consultants are doing situational analysis and data analysis.
“It always takes time to get organized and get rolling,” Gagnon said. “The amount of work that is being done in the background with data … There’s just so much data. It’s pretty monumental, actually.”
LINKS TO LEARN AND DO MORE
You can email the Sustainability Tourism Task Force here: STMTaskForce@barharbormaine.gov.
Public Comments are included in the meeting packages under the Agenda Center.
The packet for this meeting is here.
The list of task force members and more about it.
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