It’s getting back to business in Puerto Rico!
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) is heralding new milestones on the island as part of the recovery effort post-Hurricane Maria. With cruise ships making their return to San Juan in November of last year, and also hosting one of the largest travel seminars last month — the Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the agency expects to see over a million tourists due to improvement efforts, said the acting executive director of the company.
“We have made great strides because we’ve implemented a comprehensive strategy which has in turn secured a promising comebackfor the island,” said Carla Campos.
The agency predicts that 2018, that the island will see upwards to 1.7 cruise million passengers and an increase in cruise Royal Caribbean cruise routes.
Over 80 percent of the hotels, lodgings, and restaurants are fully functioning, according to the company. And flights coming in and leaving Puerto Rico have resumed and are expected to return to their normal frequency before the hurricane. Currently, over 120 tourist destinations and attractions are open, as are 122 hotels, and new developments in progress.
Despite many residents still living without power, and a recent explosion that caused another power outage, the company maintains that most of the island is getting its power back and blackouts are now confined to certain areas in central Puerto Rico.
Campos says that tourism recovery would not have been as swift as it has without assistance from its leaders and partners.
“Puerto Rico has reached great milestones that couldn’t have been achieved without Governor Ricardo Rosselló’s leadership and the immense support we’ve received from travel industry private sector partners since day one,” she said.
And the island is expected to see even more improvements with a hefty budget dedicated to current and forthcoming developments.
“With over 1.9 billion dollars of hospitality development in the pipeline and an existing lodging inventory undergoing exciting renovations — Puerto Rico’s revamping is underway,” added Campos.
