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Puerto Rico Tourism unveils plan to boost industry after María

By on October 4, 2017

SAN JUAN — The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) established a three-stage plan to assess the sector’s situation after Hurricanes Irma and María practically stalled the industry.

The agency’s executive director, José Izquierdo, explained that the first phase will consist of attending to pressing matters related to tourism infrastructure; the second will focus on rebuilding; and lastly they will begin reestablishing partnerships and campaigns that were interrupted by the storms.

PRTC executive director José Izquierdo announced a plan in three stages to attract international tourists and foment internal tourism as the industry recovers from the passage of Hurricanes Irma and María. (Dennis Costa/CB)

“Everything is normalizing. I believe sometimes we have to understand the basics. That we are an island and sometimes things on the islands take a little bit longer to normalize,” Izquierdo argued.

As recently as last August, the PRTC launched a tourism campaign called “Take It Despacito,” focused on attracting international tourism. This campaign used as a base the hit song ‘Despacito’ from Puerto Rican pop singer Luis Fonsi in collaboration with reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee. To promote internal tourism, the agency had created the campaign “Lo que el mundo busca tú ya lo tienes” (You already have what the world is searching for).

After the hurricanes, it will be necessary to modify both campaigns in order to reassure visitors that the island is stable and ready to receive them. That;s why, apart from dealing with the situation affecting the hotel industry, Tourism must also evaluate the state of tourist attractions on the island. This task began this week.

Moreover, the transfer of responsibilities to the recently created Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) continues as scheduled for summer of 2018, while the PRTC will be responsible for handling everything related to the industry.

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