PEI

P.E.I. kitchen parties in Ontario feature moonshine, shucking

Two P.E.I. kitchen parties are hitting Ontario this week to encourage meeting planners to consider Prince Edward Island as a location.

Meeting and convention planners are being asked to bring business to the Island

Kitchen parties in Ontario this week are designed to encourage meeting and convention organizers to bring business to P.E.I. (Meetings and Conventions P.E.I.)

Two P.E.I. kitchen parties are hitting Ontario this week to encourage meeting planners to consider Prince Edward Island as a location.

Meetings and Conventions P.E.I. is hosting the parties and Chef Michael Smith is there to entertain and provide Island food samples.

On Tuesday night, 88 meeting planners were invited to a kitchen party in Toronto. The festivities move to Ottawa Wednesday with 122 meeting planners.

"Much like what we do when we bring people to P.E.I., we did some experiential type work. We had them shucking oysters, we had our moonshine product there," said Michael Matthews, executive director of Meetings and Conventions P.E.I.

"We were telling stories about some of the great things you can do on P.E.I. and the hospitality and our warmth. It's all about building relationships. It's really the first step for us. We create interest through these events and then the next step is bring them to P.E.I. and get them to choose us as a destination over somewhere else."

Matthews says Ontario is the biggest market with the largest number of potential opportunities for business.