Making It Up

PRTC marketing official plugs some incorrect facts.

As a long time fan of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," I'm very familiar with someone just saying whatever they want, regardless of whether it is true or not.  So when I saw the headline "Puerto Rico Tourism Company rolls out digital initiatives," recently, I was prepared to put on my boots and wade through the bullshit.

According to Nicole Rodríguez, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company’s Chief Marketing Officer:

"We have the advantage of being the only Caribbean destination capitalizing on this extraordinary promotional tool [the Internet] that has more and more users every day.  In fact, hits to our website increased by 217.88 percent in April 2012 vs. April 2011.  With the addition of social media to our promotional efforts, the destination will reach an even greater number of influential tourists.” 

It sounds like something that might be true, hard to say, right?  Well, it's not. I've met some folks at the St Thomas Department of Tourism, and I can assure they know about the Internet.  In other words, Puerto Rico is not the only Caribbean destination using the Internet to lure travelers using the Internet and Social Media.  Their website traffic might be better, but the sole Caribbean island on the Internet, we are not.

Puerto Rico Tourism Wastes Another $20 Million

Soft corruption at its' best -

Recently Travel Weekly reported that the Puerto Rico Tourism Company was spending $20 million on a new advertising campaign that will run through June. The new marketing campaign for the upcoming winter and peak tourism season combines traditional marketing tactics with an emphasis on social media, smartphone apps and a revamped website.

The $20 million U.S. tourism campaign, makes use of nine electronic billboards in New York's Times Square to display the new advertisements, which feature images of tourists enjoying activities such as golf, snorkeling and gaming. The current ads offer a variation on the "Does It Better" theme, declaring that "We Do Winter Better."

Analysis

Most people can't imagine how much $20 million is. So let's try a few things. Imagine that we still have a population of 4 million. To pay for this campaign, every man, woman, and child paid $5 to have Puerto Rico splashed across the screens around Times Square. Have you ever been there? I have, it is literally an assault on your eyes and ears. Imagine being surrounded by around 50 huge LCD screens all playing a different commercial, at the same time. Oh yeah, that was money was spent wisely.

If we could only use 1/4 of that money to police and clean our beaches, maintain the bathrooms, ...., ahh screw it. I just thought you'd like to know how your hard earned tax dollars were being spent. The whole thing just disgusts me.