Op-Ed: Our DMO continues to fulfill its mission by doing the right things, correctly!
During the past two months, we have heard expressions from a small group of voices criticizing the Convention District, Discover Puerto Rico (DMO), and the government of Puerto Rico, for investing in the Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve event, one of the most watched events in the United States.
While we support that the use of all public funds be carefully scrutinized, it is very regrettable that our DMO and its Board of Directors continues to be unjustifiable attacked by these voices with vulgarity, rudeness, insults, and shallow arguments with no technical basis.
Specially, when all the data from multiple reliable sources signals to a responsible, efficient, and effective use of our limited funds; with an unprecedented recovery of the tourism sector, guided by our DMO’s unique strategies and consistent execution during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, other destinations and state legislators are reaching out to our DMO to learn what is Puerto Rico doing to obtain these outstanding results.
Most educated leaders in our tourism market recognize that participating in this event will have multiplying effects on our economy, short and long term. Furthermore, this is a smart investment for 96% of our visitors come from the US mainland, we still have a high growth opportunity in the central and western states of the nation, where this event is widely broadcasted. And the dynamics of the pandemic are motivating travelers to visit the safest destinations, like Puerto Rico.
An investment of $4.4 million may appear high, until the return on investment (ROI) is considered. As of today, the ROI exceeds $18 million in earned publicity and is expected to reach up to $40 million by year’s end. Also, it will inspire the meetings and conventions market in 2022 and 2023.
Moreover, it has been demonstrated that every $1 invested in the marketing and promotion of the Island through our DMO, brings about $89 into our economy and yields $6 in additional taxes to the government.
We must also recognize that 2021 brought unique advances in technology. Therefore, in addition to the television broadcasting and its projected 18 million viewers within the USA, the world and millions of potential travelers will see the capabilities of our Convention District and the District T-Mobile, many times, through the social media channels and digital marketing tools mastered by Discover Puerto Rico.
Achieving the inclusion of Puerto Rico in the nationwide promotion of this recognized event, combined with the “2022 Starts in Puerto Rico” sweepstakes is producing outstanding results. These are the fruit of two years of hard work from many competent marketing professionals within our hospitality and entertainment sector and they all, deserve our respect and recognition.
At this point, our call to the industry leaders is to actively and publicly support our DMO, and to collaborate to ensure a masterful execution that enables Puerto Rico to harvest all the possible benefits from this unique exposure.
Let us embrace 2022 with open arms and positivism, empowering the experts at Discover Puerto Rico to continue leading us through an unprecedented tourism recovery.
Most certainly, our DMO is fulfilling its mission, by doing the right things, correctly!
