A lucky winner has been drawn from thousands of entries to the recent "Come Home to the Island" contest. Erin-Marie Legacey of Kingston, Ontario wins the grand prize of a paid vacation to Prince Edward Island as a result of the draw which took place July 4, 2003. Ryan O'Connor, the Islander who invited Ms. Legacey, wins a prize as well – namely, a get-away weekend at Rodd Mill River Resort.
The contest invited all Islanders to call or email friends and relatives in other Canadian provinces to "Come Home to the Island" to renew old friendships and rediscover the magic and beauty of the Island. Tourism PEI and the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island (TIAPEI) launched the grass-roots campaign in June with the goal of increasing visitation for the 2003 season.
Ms. Legacey wins four return tickets to Charlottetown with Jetsgo; seven days car rental courtesy of Hertz; six nights accommodation at By-the-Bay Cottages; ten tickets to the Mainstage Theatre at the Confederation Centre of the Arts; as well as lobster dinner for ten at Lobster on the Wharf. Islander, Ryan O'Connor, is awarded a weekend get-away at Mill River - A Rodd Signature Resort and four tickets to a Mainstage Theatre performance at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.
Minister of Tourism Jeffrey Lantz noted, "We were really pleased that this initiative was so well received by both Islanders and visitors and it resulted in some great response. There were thousands of visits to our Web site and calls to our call centre, and the final number of entries was almost 3000." The Minister added, "On behalf of the tourism industry, I would like to thank all Islanders who took part in the "Come Home to the Island" contest for making the effort to call up friends and family. We appreciate their contribution towards increasing tourism visitation to Prince Edward Island. The contest would not have been effective without the participation of Island residents."
The contest asked Islanders to personally invite their friends and family in the rest of Canada to enter to win a trip to Prince Edward Island. Islanders either phoned their family and/or friends or sent them an innovative e-card from the Web site www.peiplay.com/home. Entering the contest was simple: friends and family living in other Canadian provinces visited the Web site or responded to the e-card and requested a Visitors Guide package; or they called the toll-free number (1888-PEI-PLAY) and quoted the contest code word "home."
Gordon MacInnis, President of T.I.A.P.E.I. said, "We organized this initiative very quickly, outside of our pre-set marketing campaign as a boost to the Island tourism industry." He added, "T.I.A.P.E.I., tourism industry members, sponsors, Tourism PEI staff and, most importantly, participating Islanders worked together to make the contest a success, and we were able to provide literature to many people who will now consider Prince Edward Island for their vacation destination in future."