Jorge Pesquera Leaves Puerto Rico Convention Bureau to Steer Aruba Hotel Association
After a successful tenure as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau for nine years, Jorge Pesquera has left that post to become Director of the Aruba Hotel Association (AHATA) from next March onward.
Mr. Pesquera is a 25-year travel and tourism industry veteran who served as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, a non-profitable organization specializing in marketing Puerto Rico as a meeting, convention, tradeshow and incentive destination. Mr. Pesquera held this position for the past nine years.
In his capacity as Executive Director for the Convention Bureau, Mr. Pesquera oversaw the overall management and coordination of all Bureau activities. He worked closely with the Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association (PRHTA), the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and other trade associations and government authorities to raise awareness of the enormous potential of this travel segment on the island´s overall tourism revenue and general economy. Under his directorship, the Bureau tripled its sales force, reengineered its marketing efforts and increased the overall economic contribution of the group market to more than $400 million per year. Over the past five years, the Bureau has also generated an increase in bookings by 350% and fully influences one-third of the hotel occupancy in Puerto Rico´s principal hotels by way of its group marketing efforts.
Mr. Pesquera is a member of the Board of Directors of the PRHTA; the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association Scholarship Foundation; the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce and the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB). He is actively involved in numerous trade associations, including MPI, ICCA, IAEM, PCMA, ASAE, the LatinCaribe Bureau and the Cornell Alumni Association.
He is also on the advisory council of the Colegio Universitario del Este´s International School of Tourism and Hotel Management program and lectures frequently at the University of Sacred Heart and the University of Puerto Rico´s Tourism programs.
Prior to his appointment as Executive Director for the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, he served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Conrad International Hotels and Corporate Director of Human Resources for Hilton International. He began his career with the Caribe Hilton in San Juan. His return to his native San Juan marked the continuation of a Pesquera family tradition.
His father, Kiko Pesquera, was a Bureau pioneer and served as its first Executive Director some 40 years ago.
Mr. Pesquera’s extensive academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in of Hotel Administration and additional training at the Sorbonne University and Schiller College in Paris.
