Puerto Rico Plans First Tourism Expo to Show Off Improvements

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company recently announced that it will host the country’s first international tourism expo May 2015 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center.

The Expo de Turismo Internacional comes as Puerto Rico looks to show off the breadth of its tourism improvements in the last three to five years.

Cruise ship arrivals to Puerto Rico have increased 135 percent in the past two years, a new port plaza has been built for pedestrians and tourists, and a renovation of its main international airport is scheduled to be completed by end of 2015. The tourism board also continues to build upon its “Five Star Island” campaign that features TripAdvisor’s logo and quotes from real reviews.

“To represent Puerto Rico as a whole, we need people to come here and meet the owners of hotels and tourist attractions. These are product offerings that would otherwise not be able to travel to other countries,” says Mari Jo Laborde, the deputy executive director of marketing for Puerto Rico Tourism Company.

Laborde also points out how hosting an expo gives travel agents and attendees the opportunity to see the attractions and hotels in person.

Puerto Rico’s tourism body can usually only bring three to 10 hotels and attractions to major exhibitions abroad depending on the size of the show and how far away it is. These include the World Travel Market, ITB, and the New York Travel Show.