Puerto Rico urges islands to respond to airlift crisis
June 25, 2008
June 24, 2008, By Gay Nagle Myers — Puerto Rico issued a call to action to Caribbean nations to work with carriers on increasing air access to the region through San Juan.
“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 of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co.
American Airlines will make numerous flight cuts from U.S. mainland gateways to San Juan, effective Sept. 3. Also on that date, American Eagle will cut flights from San Juan to other Caribbean islands.
“When American announced its flight reductions, we set in motion an aggressive call to action to our Caribbean partners to act with one voice to preserve air access to the Caribbean, which is the backbone to our region’s hotel and cruise industries,” said Denton.
Puerto Rico’s early efforts may be paying off. JetBlue, AirTran, Continental and Delta have recently announced new and expanded service to Puerto Rico from New York, Boston, Newark, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
“I’ve instructed PRTC to work with the Caribbean Tourism Organization to face the connectivity issues resulting from the opening of new flights to Puerto Rico and what this means to passengers looking to have a multi-destination experience,” said Puerto Rico Gov. Acevida Vila.
Also, Puerto Rico has passed a law extending its existing Cruise Incentive Program through the 2010-2011 cruise season. The program allocates $10 million annually for the development of Puerto Rico’s maritime industry.
Coupled with a $300 million effort to modernize the island’s port infrastructure, the initiative has led to an 8.4% increase in travel to Puerto Rico over the last two years, according to Vila.
“If we manage a 20% increase by June 30, 2011, these incentives will automatically be extended to June 30, 2014,” the governor said.
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