Meet Puerto Rico’s ‘Dial & Smile’ spurs $81M in leads
Milton Segarra, president of Meet Puerto Rico
Meet Puerto Rico’s sales staff recently secured nearly 100 group business bookings that will generate nearly 60,000 room nights for the island’s meeting and convention sector, the nonprofit destination management organization announced.
The results from the first “Dial & Smile” sales event held last month also include an additional 315 potential group bookings. Based on the interest and ability to sign a contract to bring their groups to Puerto Rico, this represents the possibility of an additional 85,324 room nights for a potential two-day sales total of nearly 145,000 room nights.
This translates into more than $81 million in direct spending that will be infused into Puerto Rico’s economy.
“This initiative truly demonstrates Puerto Rico’s ability to tap into the resources, talent and passion about our destination to sell to the group market,” said Milton Segarra, president of Meet Puerto Rico. “Certainly these group bookings represent a positive contribution to our local economy, but more than that, we know that the true benefit lay in the distinctive, memorable experiences that meeting attendees will enjoy when they come to Puerto Rico as a result of this campaign.”
Hosted at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, the event took place in a dedicated “war room” with phone banks, Internet and high-level group sales executives armed with their top sales leads.
During the event, sales representatives from Meet Puerto Rico and about 20 participating members contacted pre-identified meeting planners and other executives from corporations, associations and other organizations considering Puerto Rico for group programs. Each group was offered special incentives through the Meet Puerto Rico Development Fund based on their size and needs.
In addition to sales representatives from Meet Puerto Rico and its more than 20 participating members — including major hotels in the San Juan metropolitan area and throughout the island — the campaign also drew support form Puerto Rico tourism executives, including the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority’s Executive Director Victor Súarez, who contributed their time and expertise.
“The Meet Puerto Rico team is truly honored by the level of support and enthusiasm exhibited by our members to participate in this initiative,” said Segarra. “It’s just an example of the great things that come when we work in partnership toward a common goal.”
