Brand USA, Discover Puerto Rico Partner to Drive Post-Outbreak International Travel

Prior to the pandemic outbreak, travel and tourism in Puerto Rico generated $5.17 billion in economic activity. Then came the 2020 travel shutdowns, during which economic activity dropped 66.4 percent to $1.74 billion, triggering a 13.9 percent industry employment loss.

The 2020 travel industry job losses, paired with those from Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the early 2020 earthquakes also "confirmed the importance of fast-tracking tourism promotion efforts in Puerto Rico," said officials at Discover Puerto Rico, the island's official destination marketing organization.

Those officials met in July with the leadership of Brand USA, the official destination marketing organization for the United States, to address the post-outbreak travel landscape. The "stakeholder day" was described as a comprehensive discussion of "how both organizations are working together to promote travel to the island."

Following the gathering, TravelPulse spoke with Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico and Chris Thompson, Brand USA CEO, on the organizations' cooperative initiatives to revamp tourism to the island.

Both contend current consumer sentiment and travel behavior are combining to make Puerto Rico an "ideal" destination for international travelers.

TravelPulse: How does Brand USA work?

Chris Thompson: Brand USA has been in existence for 12 years. In the 10 years I've been there our charge was to promote the entirety United States, all 50 states as well as five territories and the District of Columbia. We take that very seriously and are settled into what I would call our nation's storytelling role.