Maine summer tourism relies on foreign student labor. But not this year.
Every year, thousands of foreign college students arrive in Maine to work at hotels, restaurants, stores and summer camps, practice English and get a taste of life in the states.
Not this summer.
Closed embassies, international travel restrictions and a backlogged visa process mean only a fraction of the usual number of students will make it to the U.S., leaving seasonal employers scrambling even more to hire workers in a tight labor market.
Funtown Splashtown USA, one of the state’s largest amusement parks, delayed its spring opening by three weeks entirely because the students from Jamaica and the Dominican Republic it relies on to paint, stain, move equipment and generally get the park ready in mid-May every year didn’t get visas in time.
“We are scrambling right now to catch up on a lot of that stuff because we are so far behind from not having any of those students,” said General Manager Cory Hutchinson.
Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/06/13/maine-summer-tourism-relies-on-foreign-student-labor-but-not-this-year/
(Portland Press Herald)
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