Puerto Rico Taps into Meetings Market during Down Times

Bookings for meetings and conventions in San Juan are up 20 percent over the same time last year, but the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau continues to work new markets and implement new sales strategies in the face of the current economic situation, according to Ana Maria Viscasillas, president and CEO.

“Meeting planners are waiting longer to book and are looking for meetings further out in the calendar year, such as at the end of 2009 and beyond,” Mrs. Viscasillas said. “While we’d like to get the business on our books now, we’re trying to be patient. Bad times bring opportunities and we’re tapping into them.”

Puerto Rico welcomed 102,770 delegates in fiscal year 2007-08, who pumped $118 million into the island’s coffers.

Partnering with hotels to find short-term, short-stay meetings and encouraging conference participants to bring their families with them by adding incentives to hotel packages are two initiatives “that seem to be working well,” she said.

“Puerto Rico is seeing the return of some of the incentive business that had gone to Europe for a time. We’re tapping into short-term events, such as weddings and sporting events. Increased interest from the Hispanic meetings market and new interest in ‘green’ meetings will drive new business to Puerto Rico,” according to Viscasillas.

The bureau’s Ambassador Program, which relaunched last year, “has played a key role in our success to date. We now have 360 local Puerto Ricans in all different fields of work who represent us in key cities and speak with potential meeting planners. It’s a way of humanizing the decision-making process,” she said.