Puerto Rican hotels take their peaks and valleys

Even though Puerto Rico´s tourist industry has not been hamstrung by the war in Iraq, the picture for the coming months -especially after the Holy Week season- appears quite bleak, according to Rick Newman, chairman of the nation´s Hotel and Tourism Association.

Mr. Newman commented local lodging facilities are beginning to see less up-front reservations, especially for the second half of April.

For the Holy Week holiday season, most establishments -big and small alike- expect to nick high occupancy rates in the neighborhood of 95 to 100 percent.

"We hope this (Holy Week) season will be much better than last year´s because we´ve got a sold-out show. Yet there are some questions marks over what will come next and that is definitely taking its toll on future reservations and bookings," Mr. Newman expressed.

The association is also committing itself to the Tourism Company´s strategy in the U.S. market. "This is a matter of communications and teamwork with airlines, hotels and governments to make sure all pieces are fitting together and that we could eventually get off the hook," said Erin Benitez, vice president of the association.