PORTLAND (AP) – The state’s stagnant tourism market could be pumped up by luring tourists from Massachusetts to Maine away from New Hampshire.

Travel officials are adopting a strategy that in part will lure Boston-area residents who now drive to New Hampshire. Upcoming ad campaigns will try to convince them that Maine’s scenery and outdoor activities are superior and make the trip worthwhile.

Maine has arrived at this strategy because tourism growth here, as well as in the rest of New England, is basically flat.

“If the overall market isn’t expanding, the only way to increase business is to steal it from our competitors,” said Rudy Nardelli, account strategist at Warren Kremer Paino Advertising LLC, which has the tourism advertising contract for the Maine Office of Tourism.

A study by Toronto-based Longwoods International shows that 38 percent of Maine visitors come from Massachusetts. Eight percent come from New Hampshire, 7 percent from New York, 6 percent from Connecticut and 5 percent from Pennsylvania.

But the study also shows that the top New England trip for 34.5 percent of Boston-area travelers is New Hampshire, with 23.6 percent touring their home state and only 18.3 percent coming to Maine.

That means that when Bostonians are traveling in New England, 58 percent of them are touring around New Hampshire and Massachusetts – which is three times the number coming to Maine. Those numbers, tourism officials say, shows the huge untapped market that exists for tourists from Massachusetts.

“That’s where the growth has to come from,” Nardelli said.

Maine’s intentions don’t surprise New Hampshire tourism officials, who already aim much of their promotion effort at Massachusetts.

“The people of Massachusetts are intelligent,” said Alice DeSouza, New Hampshire’s director of travel and tourism. “They’re going to decide which experiences they’re looking for.”

To reflect the change of strategy, future media buys for the Maine Office of Tourism will concentrate in established markets in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England. The state has been advertising in 23 Northeast markets, including Washington, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Three other markets considered to have high growth potential – New York City, Philadelphia and northern New Jersey – also will be targeted.

The agency also will shift from national cable outlets to local stations for its TV purchases. It will also use large display ads in national and local magazines.

“When you’re trying to sell your unique attributes,” Nardelli said, “you should be doing it bold and in color.”

Some leaders of Maine’s tourism industry say Warren Kremer is on the right track.

Dick Leeman, president of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce, said he was surprised that only 18 percent of Boston-area residents were visiting Maine.

“We still have more than 80 percent of the market to tap,” Leeman said.