Discover Puerto Rico: A "Blank Canvas" For Canadian Travellers

It’s almost like they discovered a new Caribbean island.

Leaders from Puerto Rico tourism were in Toronto on Monday to talk up the destination and the new Discover Puerto Rico group, set up on July 1 of last year to try to raise awareness of a Caribbean island that they call a “blank canvas.”

The group, which is represented in Canada by Reach Global Marketing, has done research and set up focus groups with Canadians. What they found is that folks in Canada don’t quite know what to think about the island, a territory of the United States just east of the Dominican Republic.

“There’s nothing negative,” Leah Chandler, the group’s Chief Marketing Officer, told TravelPulse Canada in an exclusive sit-down interview. “It’s what I call strikingly neutral. It’s almost like they’re saying, “Puerto Rico? I hadn’t thought of that before. It’s almost like a new destination.”

The lack of negativity and the easy connections to Canada (WestJet and Air Canada fly seasonally to San Juan from both Montreal and Toronto) means the Discover Puerto Rico team has a huge opportunity, said Brad Dean, the company’s CEO.

Dean said Discover Puerto Rico wants to work with the media, the trade and with agents and that they’ll be bringing agents to the destination this fall and next year so they can see the island nation's immense variety for themselves.

Canadians and others (the team recently visited Frankfurt, Berlin, London and Madrid) from outside the U.S. understand there are great beaches and that old San Juan is an attractive, historic city. What they don’t know about is the island’s vibrant culture; it’s music and dance, its artistic communities, its rich history; not to mention rugged mountains, three of the five bio-luminescent bays that exist in the entire world, a west coast surf culture and lovely islands such as Vieques and Culebra. It’s also an extremely friendly for LGBTQ visitors (gay marriage and gay adoption are both legal, officials said) and one that features American health care, great roads and other modern amenities one expects in the United States.

Chandler said the weakness of the Canadian dollar didn’t come up in any of their conversations with Canadians. She also noted residents who live north of the border can book their flights and hotels in Canadian dollars.

“It’s a great destination that’s never really been promoted,” Dean said. Until the creation of Discover Puerto Rico, the job of pushing tourism was held by a series of politicians, who would often come and go. Discover Puerto Rico is an arms-length group that isn’t subject to the vagaries of the polls. It’s grown to a staff of nearly 50 in just over a year of operation.

While some Caribbean countries are extremely reliant on tourism, it represents only six or seven per cent of the economy in Puerto Rico.

Chandler said the country has a great mix of Air BnB’s, affordable hotels and luxury products. A new JW Marriott and a new Four Seasons – the island nation’s first – are both on the way. There are plenty of inexpensive options, but she said they’re not marketing the island to folks who tend to book all-inclusive properties.

“We want people who want adventure and to experience the food and the spirit,” she said. “You can’t go off property on all islands in the Caribbean” but visitors can do so safely in Puerto Rico.

“With Puerto Rico you kind of get the best of everything,” said Dean. “You get Spanish, African and Taino Indian culture mixed with modern America. You get the new world mixed with the old, including the historic city of San Juan, which will celebrate its 500th birthday next year.”

There will be festivals and events all year for San Juan in 2020. There’s also a new, five-acre entertainment area coming called The District, which will feature live entertainment, a rum distillery, an urban zip line and much more. Officials compared it to L.A. Live in Los Angeles and said it will become one of the premiere entertainment areas in all the Caribbean.

Steven Spielberg is remaking the famous West Side Story movie, which focusses in part on Puerto Rican culture. It’s also a new play coming to Broadway.

Hurricane Maria did some damage to Puerto Rico two years ago but things were back to normal quite quickly.

“New Orleans took eight years to rebuild after Katrina, we rebuilt in less than two years,” Chandler said.

There’s been so much renovation and refurbishing that “no matter where you’re staying you’ll feel like you’re in a new hotel,” Dean said.

Puerto Rico’s three airports notched 1.67 million arrivals in the first four months of this year, a new record.

Dean used to rep Myrtle Beach, so he said he understands the power of Canadian travellers.

“Puerto Rico is excited to open its doors to Canada,” he said. “We think Puerto Rico can become the gem of the Caribbean for the Canadian traveller.”