'Dear Mainlanders': New tourism campaign emphasizes 'islandness' to attract visitors

P.E.I. tourism marketers are focusing on "islandness" in 2019 to attract visitors, both from the Maritimes and from around the world.

The 2019 campaign was unveiled Wednesday in Charlottetown. 

• String of record tourism years on P.E.I. comes to an end
• P.E.I. tourism plan looks to maintain record growth

The new marketing materials invite "mainlanders" to come and see what makes P.E.I. unique.

"Addressing our audience by saying 'Dear Mainlanders, come find your island,' it's really reinforcing that message that we are different from the rest of Atlantic Canada," said Brenda Gallant, director of marketing for Tourism P.E.I.

"There is reason to come to Prince Edward Island for everything you can find on the East Coast of Canada but a whole lot more because you're experiencing it on Prince Edward Island."

This campaign will again use the slogan "Come Find Your Island," which tourism marketers say has been working well.

The marketing continues to highlight the Island's food, natural beauty, culture and golf, with a tag line "Dance, Dine, Run, Putt, Splash."

Marketers will also use nostalgia to appeal to people who have visited the Island in the past, encouraging them to make a return visit.

The 2019 campaign will use digital and social media, as well as billboards, murals on transit shelters, elevator ads, airport adverting, print and radio ads and TV partnerships.

Members of the tourism industry also presented at the campaign launch, highlighting the potential benefits in 2019 from events such as The World Acadian Congress, the new L.M. Montgomery project and efforts to market P.E.I. as a wedding destination. 

The P.E.I. government has a new marketing agency this year, Arrivals + Departures, based out of Halifax, and the marketing budget this year is about $4 million. 

Prince Edward Island exceeded one million overnight stays in 2018, but its string of four straight record tourism years came to an end.

Tourism P.E.I. reported 1,013,280 overnight stays recorded at accommodations across the province in 2018. That was down 1.3 per cent compared to 2017.
 
 According to the tourism department, the industry employs more than 7,700 full-time equivalent workers and contributes more than $450 million to the provincial economy every year.

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