Puerto Rico is open and welcomes all to "Live Boricua"

Puerto Rico is open for business.

Two weeks after Hurricane Fiona devastated the southern parts of the island, tourism officials are saying that the storm was “a setback, not a reset” and the rest of the island is back to normal.

Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico, said within 24 hours after the storm made landfall, the Luis Munoz airport in San Juan, the capital, was reopened. Other airports on the island - Aeropuerto Internacional Mercedita (PSE) in Ponce, Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (VQS) in Vieques and Rafael Hernández Marín International Airport (BQN) in Aguadilla - are also operational along with the country’s seaports.

He said many of the resort areas in the southern region were bouncing back and the hotels were largely spared from damage. 

American President Joe Biden visited the island on Monday to assess the damage.

Meanwhile in San Juan, where there were no signs of disruption, tourism stakeholders, hoteliers, partners and the travel trade gathered for the 40^th Travel Marketplace hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). Delegates were asked to donate items for Hurricane relief and around the island, citizens and businesses were donating supplies to the affected areas.

Puerto Rico’s tourism is thriving despite the setbacks and it is due to a new campaign launched in May.

 ‘Live Boricua” emphasises the people of Puerto Rico and beckons visitors to enjoy a more authentic experience.

Boricua is derived from the Taino’s name for the island, Boriken. The word, said Dean, is a mindset, an anthem, and an indication of the spirit.

“The word conveys hope, joy, passion and optimism,” he said.

He said that coming out of the pandemic, they noticed a major shift in travellers who were looking for a deeper experience and wanted to engage more with locals.

He said the campaign emphasizes the people of Puerto Rico and contributed to a record-breaking year for the island’s tourism industry.

Dean said in the first six months of the year they saw a 36 per cent increase in lodging revenue and a 23 per cent increase in passengers through SJU through July 2022 compared to the same timeframe last year.

Among the niche areas that Puerto Rico is leaning into for a more authentic experience are food and ed-venture tourism. The Distrito T-Mobile entertainment centre next to the Conference Centre in San Juan has also been a big draw for visitors.

Dean also revealed that the success of the sector to date has resulted in more employment for locals with 19,000 people now employed, the largest ever.