So, latest tourism statistics compiled for the Maine Office of Tourism have revealed one unrevealing revelation: tourists to Maine prefer the coast.

This truth has been self-evident for decades, ever since steamships brought passengers to an unknown summer enclave named Bar Harbor. Coastal Maine’s rugged beauty and seclusion still intoxicates seasonal guests, whose presence is integral to the state’s economic health.

As other economic sectors have fallen upon hard times – the latest casualty some 150 workers to a shuttered paper machine in Baileyville – tourists have become the next great economic hope for Maine, as well as a source of new tax revenue for our voracious bureaucracy.

Except they aren’t coming. Not as hoped. An article, published in the Sun Journal Monday said the usual Maine tourism suspects still reign: Portland, Kittery, Bar Harbor, Freeport, Kennebunkport, Boothbay Harbor, et al. Meanwhile outposts such as Rangeley are slower than “normal.”

How unsurprising. Luring tourists into inland territories hard to reach for average day-trippers is difficult, especially when the historical visitor attractions in our area – hunting, fishing, camping, etc. – just cannot draw the kaleidoscope of license plates like the coast.

Yearning for riches spent by tourists from far away, however, can cause creating a vibrant in-state tourism market to be overlooked. Figures for the tourism office assert this conclusion, as a 9 percent dip in day-trippers (which is attributed to gasoline prices) has been mitigated by a 4 percent rise in overnight trips.

Maine is a faraway destination for those looking for a quick getaway. Our state’s resources, however, are within easy driving distance to most everyone with a Maine license plate, who are more likely to skip the most-traveled roads for traditional tourists to pursue an overlooked gem in an under-visited region.

Perhaps a wise ploy for inland Maine is enhancing efforts to attract these license plates, customarily festooned with a chickadee, lobster, black bear or loon.

While claims of strong results from enhanced Maine tourism campaigns in affluent places like Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are heartening, it begs the question of whether the state is too focused on dollars from away, instead of cultivating opportunities to make Maine attractive for Mainers.

A 2007 media plan, available through the tourism office’s Web site, lists among its geographic targets New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and all other New England states. A list of media purchases lists significant investment in out-of-state attention, but little here.

Why not Maine?

Instead of longing for bucks from away, it’s reasonable for the state to consider stepping up its tourism efforts to draw Mainers back into Maine. For us, Maine is nearby, the landscape and recreational opportunities are second-to-none, restaurants are great and the shopping is to die for. These are reasons we live here.

They are reasons we’ll vacation here, as well.