Study shows P.R. has ‘best potential’ for tourism growth
The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association revealed Wednesday a series of key findings that prove Puerto Rico still has opportunities and the potential to lead in tourism in the Caribbean region, if the tourism ecosystem is developed with better in-depth market insights, and strong public-private partnerships.
The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association revealed Wednesday a series of key findings that prove Puerto Rico still has opportunities and the potential to lead in tourism in the Caribbean region, if the tourism ecosystem is developed with better in-depth market insights, and strong public-private partnerships.
Frank Comito, CEO of the Caribbean Tourism Association, offered a presentation based on several key facts that travelers take into consideration when deciding to go on a vacation and Puerto Rico dominates in all of those five categories.
Those are: proximity to the United States mainland, diversity of the tourism offerings, travelers feel safe and secure, hospitality of the people, U.S. tax credits, after the election of President Donald Trump there has been an increase in traveling between the U.S. region and a decrease in overseas or international traveling. Puerto Rico is seen as part of the U.S., and a close and safe place to vacation, the study showed.
“At the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association we have been working for decades in focusing in the right strategies for our market and with our friends at the CHTA we are able to get to know the trends in the entire region,” said PRHTA Chairman Miguel Vega.
“We firmly believe that we are in the right moment to develop the tourism industry in Puerto Rico, especially now that we have a [Destination Marketing Organization] in place and we believe that the statistics we present today are an important tool to improve and contribute to guide in developing this ecosystem,” he said.
For Clarisa Jiménez, president of the PRHTA, the information will help to create a better understanding of visitor profiles and spending patterns to assist Puerto Rico with building upon existing markets and finding new ones.
“Presenters provided key information for our industry such as an overview of key regional and Puerto Rico tourism-related data providing indicators, trends and a backdrop of intelligence which can guide business, organizational and government decision-making; a review of issues impacting tourism’s performance regionally and locally and initiatives which are underway to address them; and the unveiling of regional tourism marketing and development initiatives being planned which can benefit Puerto Rico and the region’s economies, revenue and employment,” said Jiménez.
Regional trends and tourism insights, intelligences and marketing initiatives, issues impacting tourism performance and outlook in the Caribbean and specific local and regional private sector leadership opportunities were presented Wednesday during a meeting held by the PRHTA at the Hilton Hotel in San Juan.
All the information was based on statistics from the CTA and compiled by its data partners MasterCard Advisors and Adara.
John Muñoz, director, MasterCard Advisors Partnership, Latin American and the Caribbean, said the data was based on the consumer habits in airline transportation, tourism destinations and by business class travelers, and all the information is used in developing global marketing strategies.
Special attention was given to data to have the local capacity to provide services and personnel according to the needs of the highest seasons of the market; media planning and optimization; strategies for global expansion; identifying what are the main home markets that visit my market; knowing the high and low spending seasons throughout the year of tourists who visit my market; how the way tourists spent over time has changed; What are the main categories in which tourists who visit me spend their money; and, countries that should be targeted to increase spending in the market as a tourist destination, among others.
For a full copy of the study in Spanish, click HERE.
