Q & A with Terestella Gonzalez-Denton, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company

Puerto Rico has never homed in on the European and Latin American markets as other Caribbean island have done. The reason? The U.S. has always been by far its top outbound market. However, that perspective has changed in recent years and in addition to putting Europe’s major travelers in the crosshairs, the island nation has also set its smart money on emerging markets like Russia and China.

Q.- Your country is on the campaign trail and there’ll be elections quite soon. Are you planning to run again as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC)?
A.- My post is tapped directly by the governor, so if he wins the coming elections and he sees fit to keep me in the post, I’ll be there to serve the Puerto Rican people the best way I know how and keep up the good work we’ve done so far. If that weren’t the case, I must say the projects we’ve carried out in recent years have relied on the financial support of the private sector and the local communities, an element that guarantees the continuation of our tourism development plans.

Q.- During your legislature you had the chance to witness the grand opening of the Puerto Rico Convention Center –the largest in the Caribbean so far. What has this center meant to the local travel industry?
A.- The new convention center is giving San Juan the possibility of moving up a notch. Puerto Rico has traditionally been penciled in as a good MICE destination, yet we didn’t count on a venue to host what we call city-wide conventions. Right now we’re in a position to further beef up that segment, an effort that must go hand in hand with an increase in the number of guestroom the country has to offer.

Q.- Whatever happened to the Spanish investments on the island nation? They haven’t thriven thrive lately.
A- I must say we haven’t had larger investments from hotel chains out of Spain, though we know there’ll come a time when that trickle will give way to a much bigger cash flow. We’re happy to see that even though Sol Melia’s all-inclusive Paradisus Hotel didn’t click as expected, the Spanish hotel company kept on putting its chips on Puerto Rico and turned that lodging into a Grand Melia hotel. We know there’s a strong interest on the part of Spanish hotel companies in expanding business in Puerto Rico, but we need to open up to more European markets and we know Spain is going to play a major role in helping us do that.

Q.- In addition to those new markets you’re focusing on in Europe, Like Italy and Russia, what other markets are you interested in right now?
A.- Puerto Rico has never paid as much heed to European and Latin American markets as other Caribbean islands have done. The U.S. has always been our primary outbound market and I think for the first time we’ve got a concrete proposal in our hands to go after those other markets out there.

From now through December, we’ll be zeroing in on three specific European markets which are Spain, UK and Germany. Those three markets have developed in a natural way toward the Caribbean, and now with more efforts and an array of new products we’re going to step up the number of MICE visitors to Puerto Rico.

In the case of Latin America, we’re working on Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama. The latter is a major hub for us, in addition to being a good market. And when it comes to North America, Canada is the country we’re focusing on.

We’ll soon be assessing the Russian market and we’ve been tapping a little bit into the Asian market. We’ve been attending all major Asian travel fairs and tradeshows, like the ones in Shanghai and Beijing. As a matter of fact, the PRTC’s website (http://www.gotopuertorico.com/) is now posting information and services in Chinese-Mandarin language. We’re definitely taking steps in the direction of that particular market because Puerto Rico, with its casinos, stores, exotic attractions and superb air and sea connections, is a perfect place for Chinese visitors.