July 24, 2001 * Tourism [to Jan 2010]Tourism PEI Minister, Greg Deighan, today announced that the recently implemented Family Reunion Program has been so successful for the year 2001 that the department has decided to extend assistance into the year 2002. "The Department unveilled this program during a Tourism PEI 'Programs and Services' news conference this spring," noted Mr. Deighan, "and to date have had approximately 4,000 people register through it. The success has motivated us to re-offer the services." The Family Reunion Assistance Program was undertaken to promote Prince Edward Island as the perfect place to hold a reunion and capitalized on the existing activities that many families with PEI roots take part in every year. It is not unusual to see advertisements for family reunions taking place throughout the summer, and Tourism PEI decided that further assistance would be in order to encourage off-Island participants to come to PEI. "It's a great way to boost tourism numbers by providing tourism information to participants and co-ordination assistance to the organizers," added the Minister. "We provide mail-outs to registrants which we feel encourages them to come to the reunion and potentially extend their stay for a vacation. In addition, many of these people are coming to the Island for the first time, and we believe that if we can get them here once, we can get them here again for future vacations." It is estimated that next year the program would see in excess of forty reunions coming to our shores. Anyone interested in further details about the program is invited to contact Tourism PEI at 368-5540.Media Contact: Frank Butler