November 30th, 2009 by admin

Since many cruises to the Caribbean dock in Puerto Rico, the director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, a state agency, is considering making the U.S. commonwealth a Caribbean base for the industry. Jaime Lopez, director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, has been meeting with

=============
Article Content:

Since many cruises to the Caribbean dock in Puerto Rico, the director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, a state agency, is considering making the U.S. commonwealth a Caribbean base for the industry. Jaime Lopez, director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, has been meeting with directors of major cruise lines in hopes of making Puerto Rico the base of the Caribbean cruise industry. He hopes that within the next three years, the island will serve as the chief Caribbean port.

Currently, the other ports-of-call in the Caribbean include the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Jamaica and Cozumel. Since 2004, Puerto Rico has lost about eight cruise lines that once used San Juan as their center of operations in the Caribbean. However, Lopez is determined not to abandon his quest to make the island the principal base for Caribbean cruise lines, and estimates that he will need to spend approximately million in advertising to reach his goal.

Puerto Rico has been working closely with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association for several years with the goal of increasing annual visitors and increasing tourism to the island. In 2005, cruise tourism accounted for approximately 0 million towards the island’s economy, and passengers spent approximately .88 per visit. Cruise ships entering San Juan represented approximately 2.3 million of the island’s economy per year. Since then, cruise ship and travel revenue has increased at a steady rate, but the tourism board hopes to make the island the largest hub in the Caribbean over the next few years.

Many cruise ship passengers return to the islands as land-based vacationers, giving tourism professionals more opportunities to generate revenue and from restaurant and dining sales, souvenir sales and tour bookings on the island. Read more about the Puerto Rico Tourism Company’s agenda.