Puerto Rico Tourism Co. bets on local tourists to promote island
Tourism Co. Executive Director Ingrid Rivera-Rocafort
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company unveiled Thursday its latest promotional campaign ¡Y nos fuimos! (“Here we go!”), an effort focused on promoting local tourism in Puerto Rico, while providing online content to show the rest of the world the island’s beauty, as well as current offers available for international tourists.
The new initiative will be supported by the publication of a tourist information and planning guide that provides facts about Puerto Rico’s tourist regions, attractions, places to visit, “Mesones Gastronómicos,” restaurants, “Paradores” (small inns), and lodgings endorsed by the Tourism Co. throughout the island.
The guide will be paired with a 150-plus coupons booklet with special discounts at lodgings, restaurants, tour companies, amongst other offers. Coupons will be valid through Dec. 14, 2013.
During the presentation Thursday, the agency also unveiled “Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans,” an effort aimed at encouraging local tourism while using it as a platform to promote Puerto Rico as a tourist destination for international travelers.
The initiative is a joint venture with Google, and will include a contest focused on people who share their photos, videos or blogs about their local tourist experiences.
“Who better than Puerto Ricans themselves to let their peers and the rest of the world know the beauty and wonderful attractions that our island has to offer to enjoy the ultimate tourist experience? That is the rationale behind our new ‘Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans’ effort, a site in which local tourists upload photos, videos or blogs about their experiences and journeys throughout our island to share them with other Puerto Ricans, as well as with people who live beyond our shores to encourage them to discover and explore the beauties of our [island],” said Tourism Co. Executive Director Ingrid Rivera-Rocafort.
The goal of the project is to create a movement in which the local tourist will be Puerto Rico’s main ambassador as a tourist destination, and at the same time will serve as the base for the marketing strategy to promote the island at an international level.
Rivera-Rocafort said the effort also seeks to enhance Puerto Rico’s global image, to contrast search engines results, which mainly include information related to political issues, crime, or not so positive news.
“Through this campaign we’re calling on the community to share all the greatness that we have in Puerto Rico, the richness of our culture, the warmth of our people,” Rivera-Rocafort said. “We want the rest of the world to learn about the treasures of our island through the eyes of our own people, giving them a unique perspective of the wide offer of places to visit, lodging alternatives, activities and entertainment that they will be able to enjoy in Puerto Rico.”
Rivera Rocafort also explained that traditionally, potential tourists are deeply influenced by their friends’ comments and recommendations, as well as by experiences shared by other people, particularly on the Internet and social media.
“Flooding social media and the Internet with positive content about Puerto Rico is an effective way of letting know potential tourists about all the attributes Puerto Rico is blessed with. We’re going to show the world the Puerto Rico of the Puerto Ricans,” she said.
The campaign also includes a contest with more than 20 prizes to reward those who support the effort by uploading their photos, videos or blogs to www.puertoricobypuertoricans.com. Participants could win stays at Paradores of Puerto Rico, adventures and excursions to local tourist destinations. They will also have the chance to win two great awards: People’s Choice Award and the Panoramio Award. The contest ends Aug. 31, 2013.
