The Maine Innkeepers Association has Proudly Served Our Industry for 94 Years
Our role as an association can be summed up in one simple sentence — we help our members achieve prosperity and deliver a quality product to the consumer. We do that through four key areas: Communications and Information; Governmental Affairs; Marketing and Promotion and Education. By applying our efforts in each of these areas, we improve, promote, and protect the welfare of the lodging industry in Maine. This member-oriented website is one important tool to aid us in meeting our mission to members.
We strive to serve our members with valuable programs and services. Here are several that members find valuable! Click on any of the headers below to learn more about these important membership benefits!
Marketing Your Property Effectively
Official Lodging Guide
Members can increase their business with a listing in the annual Official Maine Lodging Guide. With a circulation of 100,000 to active leisure and business travelers, this guide helps increase your occupancy. While all members receive a FREE listing, over 200 have chosen to participate in our enhanced listing program. The enhanced listing includes:
- Full Description
- Web Address
- Disability Accessibility
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Pets Accepted
- Restaurant on Premises
- Dates of Operation
- And More
In addition, all of this information is included in the property’s listing on our website with two photos and searchable descriptions, area attractions, and property amenities. This members-only, four-color, statewide lodging directory is a leading marketing tool for Maine properties. With a targeted circulation of 100,000 to active business and vacation travelers, this guide increases occupancy! Our guide enjoys excellent distribution in the following key markets:
- Maine’s Visitor Information Centers
- Massachusetts Info Centers and Shopping Malls
- Local, Regional, National, and International Trade Shows and Distribution
- Direct Mail Campaigns
- Direct Inquiries
- More
Travelers can now order the guide from our own internet site as well as from banner ads placed on other key Maine travel sites. In addition, we are using a new brochure company to place several thousand copies in brochure racks in selected corporate offices throughout the greater Boston area. For information on display advertising and the enhanced listing program, contact the Association office at (207) 213-2060 or e-mail us at info@maineinns.com.
Maine Innkeepers Association Web Site
Reach thousands of potential guests worldwide every month with a FREE listing on our Maine Innkeepers Association website. Our site draws thousands of unique visitors each month who spend an average of five minutes per session viewing more than 12 pages. Best of all, the link from www.maineinns.com to your website is absolutely free. Members report significant referrals from our site.
Real-time Online Reservations
Through the partnership of Maine Innkeepers Association, Maine Office of Tourism, and Maine Tourism Association, internet-savvy travelers can make a reservation at your hotel through InnLink’s online booking tool. Visitors to mainetourism.com, maineinns.com, and visitmaine.com quickly become guests at your property as they are given the option to look and then book a room with a simple click. After clicking the “Book Online” button next to your listing on these three websites, guests are treated to hotel photos, descriptions, and the information they need to successfully place a reservation. They receive an email confirmation and so do you.
Best of all, the guest pays you at checkout or through regular advance deposit policies. Then you pay InnLink only for the guests who stay at your hotel. You decide how much inventory to allot, as each room you contribute becomes a new opportunity for higher occupancy and more reservation revenue. InnLink also offers GDS and internet connectivity, a branded booking engine for your property’s website, complete 24/7 Voice/Call Center services, and a wide selection of marketing programs to increase occupancy and revenue.
Cutting Edge Information
Maine Innkeepers Association Website
Our website connects you with your industry. We’ve got critical links to all important state government sites so you’ll be sure and have the strongest access to current laws and regulations. Through our website, you can find your Maine legislators and write them e-mails or letters directly. You can also search our allied database for products and services you need.
Innterviews and Marketing Addendum Newsletters
Discover cutting-edge information, the latest trends, news, cost-saving methods and operations with your FREE subscription to INNterviews, Maine’s finest regular newsletter dedicated to lodging. What are the trends on family vacations? How are we faring on international tourism? Get the latest media inquiries for marketing and promotion. Discover what changes are forthcoming in state and federal laws. To view our INNterviews and Addendums in PDF format, click here.
Lodging Magazine
Learn from the industry’s leading magazine, Lodging, which is free with your membership in the American Hotel & Lodging Association. To experience Lodging online, click here.
Maine Restaurant and Lodging Expo
Be the first to see and sample the latest in lodging and foodservice developments at the Annual Restaurant & Lodging Expo featuring some 165 booths and free industry seminars. The Maine Innkeepers Association is a partner in this show with the Maine Restaurant Association. The next show will be in the Spring of 2017 at the Cumberland County Civic Center. For more information about the show and to register online, visit Maine Restaurant and Lodging Expo. Exhibitors, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to reach thousands of foodservice and lodging operators. Call the Association office at (207) 865-6100 to learn more about this tremendous opportunity to reach the lodging and restaurant buying market.
Protecting Your Lodging Business
Effective, Aggressive Lobbying on Your Behalf
We are the one organization dedicated entirely to working on behalf of the lodging industry in Maine. Protect your business interests with our dynamic and aggressive legislative program. We hire a lobbyist who roams the halls in Augusta on behalf of our industry. In addition, we have an Annual Day at the Capitol, Maine Innkeepers Association Political Action Committee, Legislative Alerts, and Annual Legislative Reception. We need your voice to join with ours as we lobby for more tourism funding for Maine and combat burdensome taxation, regulation, and legislation.
Stay on Top of the Laws and Regulations!
Save time and money with information on laws and regulations affecting the lodging industry in Maine. Do you have the required state and federal posters? What are the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act? Do I have to sprinkle my property? What are the child labor laws in Maine? Are my employees exempt from overtime requirements? We answer your regulatory questions and keep you up-to-date on laws and regulations that can literally save you thousands of dollars.
Legislative Alerts Give You Blow by Blow Action
Action at the legislature is fast and complicated, but make no mistake, it does affect your bottom line. Through our regular legislative alerts, we’ll share with you what has happened, what’s likely to happen, and how you can play a role.
Law Cards and Maximum Rate Cards
The Association provides members with required law cards and maximum rate cards FREE. In addition, we connect you with the right state agency to ensure that you have ALL necessary posters for free.
Money-Saving Benefits Help Your Bottom Line
Visa/Mastercard Processing Program
Save hundreds of dollars with our Visa/MasterCard discount processing with Heartland Payment Solutions. Many Maine properties are participating! Contact Susan Schoenfeld at 603-219-3642 to find out more about this tremendous membership benefit.
Health, Dental, and Life Insurance
Receive competitive rates on health, dental, and life insurance through our preferred vendor, Cross Employee Benefits. Contact Jane Lebrun at 877-816-3411 to find out how the Association can serve your insurance needs. Our dental program is second to none, and in the area of health care, Cross can provide quotes from all appropriate providers in Maine. You can find out more about Cross Employee Benefits, one of the largest in Maine, at www.crossagency.com or you can click on this link to receive specific information in real time on our insurance portal sponsored by Cross Employee Benefits.
ADA Kits
Under the 1992 Americans With Disabilities Act, lodging properties must make their facilities accessible to those with physical disabilities. Lodging properties are now required to provide rooms equipped with Notification Devices, Telephone Amplifiers, Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf and Television Closed Caption Decoders for hearing impaired guests. To help you in this regard, ADA kits are made available to borrow. These include three of the “1000” Portable Guest Room Suitcases. Each contains devices that make telephones accessible to the hearing impaired, a cable-ready telecaption decoder that puts TV dialog in captions across the bottom of the screen, and an Alertmaster all-in-one unit that alerts hearing impaired guests to telephone rings, door knocks, built-in clock alarms, and in-room smoke alarms.
Education is the Key in Today’s Market
Annual Conference Brings You Knowledge
Learn from your peers and industry experts at our annual meeting and conference. We bring in nationally known presenters like Peter Yesawich and tap local experts on topics such as public Relations for Lodging Properties, Surviving a Sales Tax Audit, Labor Law and Discrimination, Marketing Maine for Tourism, and Healthcare Insurance Reform and How It Will Affect You. The event also features our Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner and exhibits of leading suppliers to our industry showcasing the latest in products and services. For more information, click here! Conference registrations will be mailed shortly.
Professional Hospitality Development Series
We also offer educational opportunities at special seminars offered throughout the year. Recent topics have included search engine optimization, maximizing Google for your lodging property, housekeeping I and II, maintaining your website, fire code regulations, and more.
STR (Smith Travel Research, Inc.)
STR provides Maine Innkeepers Association members with discounts of up to 30% on a variety of their products and reports. This includes the incredibly valuable STAR report, which allows you to professionally compare your occupancy, ADR, and REVPAR against aggregate figures from your local market. There are other very useful research tools available so click here to find out more about them.
Learn more at: http://www.str.com Or download the report smithtravelnovember (Excel Format)
Discounted Natural Gas, Propane and Heating Oil Programs
Discounted Natural Gas Program sponsored by Sprague Energy. Also discounted heating oil, propane, and electricity programs, please call the office for information on these programs.