Post Hurricane María Statement
Milton Segarra
President & CEO, CDME
In our goal to keep you updated on our news and plans, we are pleased to share the week’s positive news for our industry – more cruises have been arriving in our ports; more attractions are opening; more hotels are accepting new reservations; and San Juan was just recognized by Lonely Planet as one of the World’s Top 10 Cities for Travel in 2018!
A list of attractions including the Bacardi Welcome Center, Plaza Las America’s and Mall of San Juan, and many of our water sports venues can be found here with opening dates from now to the end of December. San Juan’s hotels continue to post opening dates (please click here for exact dates per the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), power (by generator) continues to keep the lights on in many of our hotels, gas lines continue at a normal level, the port is fully operational, the airport is fully operational and open 24 hours – by the end of November we will have more than 700 domestic and international flights daily.
Additional service status can be found at status.pr for daily updates.
We are also pleased that the Puerto Rico Convention Center will resume its schedule of conventions in January, kicking off with the region’s largest tourism marketing event, The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)’s Caribbean Travel Marketplace, January 30 – February 1. CHTA has expressed confidence in the readiness of Puerto Rico to host in January. Last year more than 1,100 delegates from 31 countries participated in more than 10,000 pre-scheduled appointments.
Our calendar of events remains intact and you will have the opportunity to hear personally from us at upcoming trade shows, conferences, and events. Please click here for the list: http://puertorico.simpleviewcrm.com/webapi/rsvp/v2/. Next week we will be participating in TEAMS, the world’s leading conference and expo for the sports-event industry. We will be sharing updates on our sporting venues, many which are, like our convention center, being used by the military and/or as collection centers. A complete list of those facilities and their availability for groups can be found here.
As a part of our engagement phase – interacting with the industry and media on a consistent basis – we are continuing to ask for input on new ideas, new approaches and new commitments that we can work on together and share in the anticipation of relaunching and rediscovering Puerto Rico.
Many continue to ask how they can help or contribute. We continue to provide the link to United for Puerto Rico, an initiative brought forth by the First Lady of Puerto Rico, Beatriz Rosselló, in collaboration with the private sector, with the purpose of providing aid and support to those affected in Puerto Rico by the passage of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane María. Please click here.
We intend to keep you updated on our progress in real time – keeping you informed, engaged and connected. As you know, Puemeetingso has always been one of the most desired meeting and convention destinations and we intend to continue the same tradition soon.
