Participants suggested that the province needed to build a better brand for itself if it was to "sell" itself to the world - and to Islanders themselves.
Participants discussed the image of PEI and the fact that it is generally perceived to be "a laid back place that is beautiful to visit" and a place that "you leave to work and where you return to retire". Those at the dialogue, however, made it clear that there was more to PEI than this and suggested that the province needed to build a better brand for itself if it was to "sell" itself to the world - and to Islanders themselves. Indeed, participants felt that in order to attract/retain/repatriate workers and businesses, PEI needed to market itself not only as a premier tourism destination, but also as a great place to live, work and do business. Participants proposed a brand that would mix the province's tourism messages ("PEI is safe, relaxing, a place to raise families, with good values") with the province's economic and workforce attributes to create a unique work/life balance brand.
They suggested that building a positive and powerful brand for the Island involved understanding and promoting what PEI offers / could offer to workers (e.g., a high quality of life and a relatively lower cost of living) and businesses (e.g., centres of excellence and a relatively lower cost of doing business). However, participants noted that along with building a brand came the need to "walk the talk" - a responsibility they felt was shared by all stakeholders. For example, they felt that the following could help improve PEI's competitiveness in the eyes of workers and businesses: