By David Harry
Staff Writer

Andrew Sloan, 5, said there was one place his family had not visited after arriving  in Maine from Sacramento by way of Cape Cod.
“We haven’t been to Africa yet,” he said as he perched on his father Tim’s shoulders and looked past Portland Head Light.
Africa was not on the Sloans’ itinerary, but the late summer visit made by the family is the type local business owners hope will help them rebound from a slow start to the tourist season.
From the Maine Office of Tourism to local inns and restaurants, marketing Maine past Labor Day is being embraced and the results have been surprisingly profitable.
At the Clambake Restaurant on Pine Point Road, manager Don Roth said this is the first year the restaurant has stayed open on weekdays after Labor Day.
“Actually, it has been very good,” Roth said.
Residents who returned after avoiding summer crowds and tour groups traveling by bus have justified the decision to stay open, Roth said.
The red tide infestation of Maine’s waters closed clam flats in the summer, but Roth said it was the rain in late spring through July that hurt the restaurant business more. After Labor Day, Roth said staff was reduced from nearly 100 to about 35, but offering smaller, less expensive portions has also helped draw customers.
“We want to get them in and let them see the place,” Roth said about attracting new and future customers.
In Old Orchard Beach, the rides are stilled at amusement parks and traffic more sparse on Grand Avenue, but beachgoers revel in the sunshine and quiet.
Jack and Alison Whynot of Meredith, N.H., spent last week camping in Old Orchard while attending the annual car chow and parade held through the weekend.
“It doesn’t appeal to me in the summer, it is just too crowded,” Alison Whynot said.
The couple lives near Lake Winnipesaukee, a tourist draw in New Hampshire, and said they know about how towns can empty after Labor Day.
As the pace slows and the leaves change colors, they said New England takes on a new level of charm.
“New England itself offers such a broad range,” Alison Whynot said.
Tim Sloan agreed as he, his wife Dana and their sons Tyler and Andrew walked through Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth.
The family had explored the seacoast as far north as Boothbay Harbor. The pace and beauty of the fall charmed Dana Sloan, she said.
“This is my favorite state back east,” she said.
Her kind words are what Old Orchard Beach business owner Fred Kennedy banks on to draw customers next year and beyond.
The owner of three hotels in Old Orchard Beach and a former president of the chamber of commerce, Kennedy said this has been a good month for business.
“There is a pent-up vacation demand,” he said.
The local car show, an annual show featuring tow trucks and the new harvest festival held this weekend are attractions that will help him recoup lost revenues from the late spring and early summer.
Kennedy said he also relies on more Web advertising and specials to draw fall customers, but happy memories and word of mouth are a huge boost.
“We have a lot of happy people leaving,” Kennedy said, and noted his reservations for 2010 are indicating a strong year is coming.
In Scarborough, Jamie Bayley at Bayley’s Camping Resort said the resort’s marketing efforts run beyond Columbus Day and capitalize on the foliage, apple picking and a Halloween celebration over Columbus Day weekend.
Halloween is celebrated early with themed campsites and a haunted hayride, Bayley said. Campers said they also liked the slower pace September offers.
September is a month when Stockbridge, Mass., resident Dorothy Sage said she likes to visit her grandchildren.
“I love Maine in all seasons, actually,” Sage said. “Now there are still people around, but it is not too busy.
Promoting the state in all seasons is a focus for Pat Eltman, who directs the Maine Office of Tourism.
Estimating Maine draws 41.8 million day and overnight visitors annually, and that 75 percent of people making travel arrangements use the Internet, Eltman said her office has launched print ad campaigns in New York and Boston that also guide readers to the tourism Web site.
Web visitors also find customized virtual tours listing brew pubs, fairs, and the new birding trail that highlights the Scarborough Marsh and Pine Point.
The increased business helps add to the $13 billion in revenues Eltman said tourism creates, but Mary Boutet of the Holiday House bed and breakfast in Scarborough said repeat customers have been the staple of her good business this month.
Boutet said bookings from May through July were probably “the worst I have had in 14 years,” conditions she attributed to a recession and rainy weather.
Signing on with a service to place the inn more prominently in Web search engines helped draw attention, and Boutet said she offers specials on non-holiday weekends through the fall.
But steady business may not recoup what was lost earlier this year, she said.
“It’s good things are good, but you can always count on September weather,” she said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219