Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force

The Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force was established to evaluate tourism management challenges, develop proposed solutions, and provide findings and recommendations to the Town Council.


Agendas & Minutes

View All Agendas and Minutes


Upcoming Community Events

Community Open House: Thursday, March 26, 2026 from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM & 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

STM Open House Flyer


As part of ongoing engagement efforts with the community during development of the Bar Harbor Sustainable Tourism Management Strategy, the Town will be hosting an "Open House" on Thursday, March 26th. 

Join us to help shape the future of tourism in Bar Harbor by discussing topics such as traffic, parking, housing, and planning for future generations. By voting on the greatest challenges and potential solutions, your feedback will guide the Town's priority action items within the Sustainable Tourism Management Strategy. 

Those interested have the option to attend one or both community open house sessions on Thursday, March 26th:

Lunch session: 12-2 PM in the Town Council Chambers of the Bar Harbor Municipal Building, 93 Cottage Street

Evening session: 6-8 PM at The Annex - by Side Street Cafe, 51 Rodick Street

Food will be provided at both sessions, and drinks will be available for purchase at the Side Street Cafe bar during the evening session.

Have questions or comments? Call the Planning Office at (207) 288-3329

Let's work together towards a shared vision of Sustainable Tourism.


Upcoming Meetings

Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM - Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force Meeting

This meeting will take place in-person and via Zoom located in the Council Chambers at 93 Cottage Street, Bar Harbor. The Zoom link is listed in the posted agenda.


Updates

  • October 2025 Sustainable Tourism Management Update
  • STM Resident Survey Flyer
  • STM Resident Survey - Polco
    • Bar Harbor is developing a Sustainable Tourism Management Plan, and your voice matters. We asked residents to complete a brief survey that will help shape the future of tourism in our community. 
    • The survey closed on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
  • November 12, 2025 Presentation - The material in this presentation is a draft and subject to change. It was presented as a work in progress during the Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force Meeting on November 12, 2025. The analyses, data sets, models, and visualizations presented have not yet undergone full validation or quality assurance. Data collection and analysis are ongoing, and individual models may be refined further. Charts, statements, and other outputs are preliminary and may differ in the final version
  • December 10, 2025 Presentation - Strategy Development Process Updates
  • February 3, 2026 Presentation - Town Council Update
  • February 11, 2026 Presentation - Situational Analysis presentation by Edmund Morris of Equator AI, with Sustainable Tourism Management consultant J.E. Austin Associates. This meeting recording, and all previous meetings, can be viewed on Town Hall Streams: https://townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=37&id=71268
  • March 11, 2026 Presentation - Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force meeting presentation materials, revised to reflect comments received from Task Force members. This meeting recording, and all previous meetings, can be viewed on Town Hall Streams: https://townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=37&id=73272
  • DRAFT Bar Harbor Situational Assessment - Draft Situational Assessment on the State of Travel and Tourism in Bar Harbor, authored by Equator with support from Sustainable Tourism consultant, J. E. Austin Associates (received March 13, 2026). Please email any questions or comments you'd like the consultant to address regarding the draft report to Emily Sprecher (esprecher@barharbormaine.gov) by April 1, 2026 for inclusion in an upcoming Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force meeting discussion. 


Taskforce Contact

Please use this email to contact the taskforce: STMTaskForce@barharbormaine.gov. 


Additional Information

Written Comments Received

  • Public Comments are included in the meeting packages under the Agenda Center. 


Taskforce Members

Enoch Albert Michael Boland Pat Buccello
Christopher Cannon Jeremy Dougherty Jim Glavine
Vicki Hall Alexa Kelly John Kelly
Christine Kirk Leila Long David Woodside
  Katherine Zavestoski  

Please note: Sending an email to the group email address will go to all members of the taskforce listed above, as well as town staff members in the Planning and Code Enforcement office: Planning Director Michele Gagnon, Housing and Community Planner Cali Martinez, Sustainable Economic Development Coordinator Emily Sprecher and Staff Planner Hailey Bondy.

Any message sent to this email address is also considered a public record and may be subject to a request under the Maine Freedom of Access Act. Information that you wish to keep confidential should not be included in email correspondence to this address.

Staff will respond to the sender that their message was received. Taskforce members should not respond to the email messages to avoid ex parte communication.