http://www.dannlewis.net A Look Back at a Lifetime of Tourism Development Tue, 27 May 2008 22:40:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Shortly before cocktail hour at the Current Club on the day I had acted as a lifeguard for Andy and his men, Captain Joe dropped by the office to tell me that "Andy really appreciated your watching out for his boys in the water, it was good therapy for them ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/05/further-adventures-with-andy-and-his-men/ Eleuthera, Bahamas: The Current Club was nearly full to capacity on warm Spring day, thanks to eight rather tough looking men who arrived the previous day on a DeHavilland Dove all the way from Canada. "Andy", the owner of the aircraft and obvious leader of the group was a friend ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/05/dann-lewis-as-lifeguard/ In his later years, Howard Hughes was known for being secretive and eccentric. His wealth enabled him to retain staff who were quite successful in shielding him from the press, process servers and the merely curious. When Mr. Hughes and his considerable entourage moved from Las Vegas to Nassau, Bahamas in ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/05/howard-hughes-invasion-of-nassau/ In the 1950's and 60's the (then) British Colony of the Bahamas was a magnet for colorful characters from many parts of the world, including supposed or true ex-military notables, soldiers of fortune, titans of business, celebrities, rogues of various stripes and others seeking an escape from Life or the ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/05/20th-century-pirates-rogues-and-other-notable-characters/ Editor's note: This is a paraphrase of an article from the Wall Street Journal 1996 by Sara Kehaulani Goo From the Economic Focus Section of the Wall Street Journal: Maine tourism officials conducted their first actual market research in over a decade only to learn a disappointing fact: most people who ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/04/consultant-to-maine-people-think-youre-dull/ Dann H. Lewis, director of the office of tourism, has been selected as one of the most extraordinary sales and marketing minds in hospitality, travel and tourism by senior executives in those industries from around the world. Dann Lewis, who has served as tourism director in Maine since 1995, was named ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/03/dann-lewis-honored-by-top-industry-group/ Riding on the momentum of their highly successful 1997 season, the Department of Community and Economic Development's Commissioner, Tom McBrierty and State Tourism Director Dann Lewis cruised into the legislature on December 7. Testifying before the Joint Committee on Business and Economic Development, they requested a special $3 million appropriation ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/03/dann-lewis-tourism-goes-for-more/ Paul Rickert, operations manager of Northern Outdoors, and me, Roberta Scruggs, staff writer for the Portland Press Herald, were part of an intrepid band that embarked on an 83-mile snowmobile excursion from the Forks to Sugarloaf on January 23. Also along for the ride were Governor Angus King; Dann Lewis, ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/03/following-a-frozen-trail/ Tourism spending rose in 2005, state reports Overnight travelers spent $3.1 billion last year, ending a four-year slump. "It means we're not only riding the wave, but we're being more successful than others." Charles Colgan Associate director, Maine's new Center for Tourism Research and Outreach Maine's tourism industry broke out of a four ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/03/dann-lewis-a-very-good-year/ The man who now runs the state's tourism office does not pull any punches - but he's getting results.  Nothing annoys Dann Lewis more than the phone calls he gets around Labor Day each year from television and newspaper reporters asking how the tourism season went. The Season, he delights ... http://www.dannlewis.net/2008/02/dann-lewis-maines-top-tourist/