WASHINGTON,
June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Honorable Anibal
Acevedo Vila, Governor of
Puerto Rico, addressed media and delegates at the
first Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit (ACTS) in
Washington, DC, today to
present a plan that will preserve air access to
Puerto Rico and other islands
in the
Caribbean. The Governor also introduced a Cruise Incentives Law that
will continue to provide incentives to the maritime service providers who
safeguard existing routes and/or expand their operations to the region.
The Governor provided an update on a call to action issued by Puerto Rico
to Caribbean nations to form a united front that will work with the airline
industry to increase access to the Caribbean through the island, a bold move
given the specter of the industry. As a result of these efforts, airlines such
as Jet Blue, Air Tran, Continental and Delta have added service to Puerto Rico
from cities like New York, Boston, Newark, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale, among
others.
Rising fuel costs had forced some airlines to cancel flights to the
region, a decision that stands to cripple the hotel and cruise industries
operating in the Caribbean.
"The gravity of the economic crisis facing the airline industry, and
business in general, is especially felt in the Caribbean, a region that has
benefited immensely from tourism," said Terestella Gonzalez Denton, Executive
Director, PRTC. "In conjunction with Governor Acevedo Vila and our partners in
the Caribbean Trade Organization, we are working hard to preserve air access
to the region which is the backbone to our region's hotel and cruise
industries."
The Governor also announced the passing of a Law to expand his
administration's Cruise Incentive Program, which allocates a yearly $10
million fund for the development of Puerto Rico's maritime industry. Coupled
with a $300 million effort to modernize the island's port infrastructure, the
initiative resulted in an 8.4 percent increase in travel to Puerto Rico over
the last two years.
"I am very happy to announce that we've just signed a Law that extends our
Cruise Incentive Program throughout 2010-2011," said the Governor. "Even more
important, this decree determines that on the eventuality that we manage a 20%
increase by June 30, 2011, these incentives will automatically be extended to
June 30, 2014."
The Governor's address ended with an exhortation to the delegates at ACTS
to work together on issues of air and sea access in the region.
"I've instructed the Puerto Rico Tourism Company to work together with the
Caribbean Tourism Organization in the next few weeks, to face the connectivity
issues resulting from the opening of new flights to the Island and what this
means to passengers looking to have a multi-destination experience.
Furthermore, we invite CTO to have a proactive discussion on how we can raise
interest in our region to develop new maritime access alternatives and create
new maritime routes to the Caribbean, using our Incentive Program as the basis
for deploying innovative tactics."
About PRTC
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), founded in 1970, is a public
corporation responsible for stimulating, promoting and regulating the
development of the tourism industry. It markets Puerto Rico as a tourism
destination through advertising, public relations and promotional activities;
promotes tourism among local residents; provides visitor orientation and
technical assistance to investors; evaluates tourism facilities and
establishes standards of quality; and regulates and oversees gaming
operations. PRTC has offices and representatives in the U.S. mainland,
Canada, Europe and Latin America.
Contact: Matthew Frappier
Edelman
212-819-4802
Matthew.Frappier@Edelman.com
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