Puerto Rico Cruise Industry By The Numbers

Cruise Industry Dreams

Recently I did some Internet window shopping. You know surfing through a variety of websites looking for things you wish you had the money to pay for. Since the cruise ship industry has come under scrutiny. Is Puerto Rico growing or losing, with respect to cruise ship departures (or visits).

Cruising through the Carnival Cruise Ship Website, on a 7 tour beginning in Puerto Rico, and visiting St Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Marteen. Puerto Rico had the least excursion opportunities. In order of the number of excursions offered:

1. St Thomas: 25 (Population: 51,634)
2. St. Lucia: 22 (Population: 174,000)
3. St Marteen: 15 (Population: 74,852)
4. St Kitts: 14 (Population: 52,402)
5. Barbados: 13 (Population: 273,331)
6. Puerto Rico: 5  (Population: 3,978,702) 

Analysis

We are 17 times the largest of those islands and 77 times larger than the smallest, yet we are last in excursions. Add another paradox to the list. How could this be?

The Engima of Puerto Rico Tourism

For me, nothing describes the enigma of Puerto Rico better than it's sorted relationship with tourism. For on the one hand we have our stated goal, which was recently summarized by Governor Luis Fortuño: "Tourism enriches our economy and is a very important focus for us." While on the other hand we have such an ineffective approach to managing our tourism industry that it makes one wonder if there is a coordinated and intentional plan to sabotage that industry.

I remember asking a highly intelligent, well connected, Puerto Rican friend of mine why Puerto Rico wasn't more like Orlando, and his response was "Did you ever consider that Puerto Ricans like Puerto Rico just the way it is?" Now I don't think he was jerking my chain or kidding, so like wine, savor his statement for a while, before reacting.

With recent reports of Governor Fortuño signing eight new tourism initiatives into law, it appears that reform of the Tourism industry is at hand. In this first post on tourism, I'll examine an initiative launched recently by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, again I would like to remind everyone that I don't go looking for things to bash, they come to me. My wife sometimes tells me, "You don't think Puerto Ricans can do anything right," so I guess it does seem like I focus on the negative too much here in Dondequiera. I think for the most part I tend to stick to what I was taught as a child, "If you don't anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." However, what gets my blood boiling is when people make claims that under examination only reveal hypocrisy, vanity, and plain old incompetence .

In my opinion, here in Puerto Rico we accept bad service too easily. I believe the tendency is to avoid a confrontation about "hot" topics like incompetence, bad service, or injustice because we don't want to make anyone look bad. So instead of confronting a situation head-on and calling someone (or some company) out on doing a terrible job, we say "¡Ay Bendito! and let it slide, but then we'll go around to all of our friends talking badly about someone (or some company). Then when presented with the same situation again, we try to navigate around the situation, just to avoid confrontation.

SeePuertoRico.com

Recently the Puerto Rico Tourism Company announced a new integrated marketing campaign designed to increase awareness and make Puerto Rico a "top of mind" destination. At the center of the initiative is a series of Elliott Erwitt photographs taken during a return trip to Puerto Rico last spring where the world-renowned photographer re-discovered the Islands' essence: romantic, rich in culture and experience.

The $10 million advertising campaign will run on networks like Bravo, Food Network, Fine Living, Travel Channel, CNN and CNBC. Print ads will run in titles like Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Food & Wine, In Style, Town & Country, and Travel & Leisure. The advertising plan, will run in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Atlanta and Miami, consisting of television, print and online webisodes with messaging that evokes a personal connection with Puerto Rico and inspires people to visit the islands.

Observations

First of all, and I've said this before, I don't think that big budget advertising campaigns are the answer to reforming our tourism industry. I'd say that advertising is more of the same, and by the way, I'll be getting to the scandal behind us re-adopting "Lo hace mejor" slogan. Now I've not seen any of the print or television ads, although I'm sure they're stunning. Nor have I found any of the webisodes mentioned in the press release. No, I'll be approaching this from a web perspective, specifically the Internet Marketing aspects of the campaign:

1. Non existent SEO - I hope they take a little bit of the money they are spending and buy their way to the top of any search for "See Puerto Rico", because right now the site they created SeePuertoRico.com doesn't even show up when you search for the words in the domain name. Ladies and Gentlemen, you have to try very hard to avoid getting a site associated with the words used in domain name itself.
   
   In fact, I would submit, only a complete noob would create a web site that couldn't be indexed by the words used in a domain name. Once again, I would point to Adobe Flash as the culprit, but the problem with Flash is usually indexing content inside the movie, I mean you can't even find this site if you search for it. I mean check out the meta name="keywords" collection. Did they leave anything out? Well perhaps one important one "See Puerto Rico."
   
   
2. All rights reserved - Did you know that there is an alternative to the traditional copyright, namely, Creative Commons? On the Flash movie, it clearly assigns the traditional copyright, "All rights reserved" to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC). Now one can assume from that declaration that the photographer Elliott Erwitt transferred the copyright of the images used in the website to the PRTC. So they could license them anyway they want, so the question is: "Why wouldn't they want to "protect" the images?" The answer involves understanding the importance of the Remix culture on the Internet.
   
   Essentially the logic goes something like this. We assume that the PRTC paid a hefty amount for the world famous photographer to capture these images. Putting a "All rights reserved" declaration on the images only protects them in the United States, those words are mostly meaningless elsewhere. But if they did pay a lot for them, wouldn't you want the most people possible getting a hold of the pictures? If they are, as Jaime Lopez, executive director of The Puerto Rico Tourism Company says:

   "He depicted the true realism of Puerto Rico; he captured our beaches, yes, but he unveiled so much more with images of our rain forests, our architecture and culture that make Puerto Rico so special."

   Then wouldn't you want everyone to have access to the pictures to use as they want, just as long as they promote Puerto Rico as a, how did that go again? Oh yeah, a "top of the mind" destination.
   
   
3. Linking - Now one of the reasons that no one can find the website "See Puerto Rico," is because they don't even link to it from their own website. Go on, go check it out. So riddle me this: "Why would you create a new $10 million campaign and not even link to it from your main website?" Is it sabotage or ineptitude? If anyone has seen any of these ads, can you tell me whether they direct you to the "See Puerto Rico" site or to the main GoToPuertoRico.com site?
   
   
4. Flash - Again, why Adobe Flash? It takes a long time to load and none of the content gets indexed. When are we going to get over this hammer predisposition, that every website looks like an Adobe Flash nail?
   

By the way, as soon as I hit publish, I bet this article will be the number one hit in a search for "See Puerto Rico." Why, because Dondequiera is recognized by the search engines as an expert in all things Puerto Rico, in other words, we have a strong search engine optimization strategy that guarantees that our content is indexed effectively. I've also used a few tricks within this post to ensure a high index for the phrase "See Puerto Rico". Get it?

So once again, riddle me this: "Why doesn't the PRTC have a blog which shares information about Puerto Rico?" or "Why does the press link on the GoToPuertoRico.com have only one news item about No Passport Required?" or "Why doesn't it include a copy of the press release they sent out announcing the See Puerto Rico campaign?" And finally, "What conclusion am I supposed to come to, when you put all of this together?"

¡Ay Bendito! They did the best they could! At least they're trying! No! I'm sorry! If they are going to spend $10 million of our hard earned (and collected) tax dollars, I believe they can do much better. We can and should demand better, and the first step is criticizing them publicly for their shortcomings. I hope you can understand.

Two sides of the same coin: Puerto Rico empowers a criminal culture

When I read of the horrific events that lead to the kidnap, rape, and murder of Sara Kuszak, I was shocked and stunned. How could a human be so evil? But that was before I read the statements of psychologist Salvador Santiago, Dean of Students, School of Medicine. But to hear the true voice of evil, well that would be left up to Clarisa Jiménez, President of the Hotel and Tourism Association.

You know I was ready to lay out how the demonic tragedy of Sarah, so recent after the tragic loss of Emily Villanueva Caballero were two sides of the same coin. I was going to say that while these were acute examples of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they were still perfect examples of the criminal culture which haunts Puerto Rico. But know I don't need to, because Dr. Santiago and Ms. Jiménez have clearly illustrated that for me. In my opinion, both of their comments demand that they be removed from the elite positions which they now occupy. THey are a both a disgrace to humankind.

First, while Dr Santiago is right that our "machista" culture tends to objectify women, treat them as property, and thus diminish their equality with men, I believe he is missing the larger issue. According to Dr. Santiago, "La magnitud de este problema no es tan grande aquí. La moraleja debe ser preguntarnos qué estamos haciendo para disminuir la cantidad de hombres que todavía piensan que las mujeres pueden ser ultrajadas, violadas o que no son iguales a ellos." Roughly translated with a little emphasis he says, "This isn't a big problem here in Puerto Rico. (Really? Tell that to Sarah's family and loved ones. I submit to you that any society which looks at the tragic end to this poor woman's life and rationalizes its' significance away is destined for an existence of misery, tragedy, and ultimate downfall. I say that that the only frequency that is acceptable is zero. No one should have to experience what she did.) The moral of this event is to ask ourselves what are we doing to reduce the number of men that still think women can be abducted, violated, or that they are not equal to men. (How about, what are we doing as a society to eliminate the number of people that believe that they can violate the essential rights of any human being and break, with total impunity, laws which are supposed to protect its citizens?)

But it's Ms. Jiménez's statement that really nails the collective thinking about crime in Puerto Rico. In a shameful excuse, she describes Sarah's death as having serious implications, “por tratarse de una mujer joven sin pasado criminal." Translated she is saying that there are serious implications for the treatment and death of a young woman without a criminal record. No Ma'am, there are serious implications when an "upstanding citizen" such as your self believes it is acceptable for this to happen TO ANYONE. Just because someone has a criminal past doesn't mean that they're not human anymore.

What we as a society have not realized is that we can not draw lines around crime and say these crimes are acceptable, but when it happens to someone like Sarah or Emily they are unacceptable. Crime should be unacceptable in all of its' forms and disguises. The level of denial someone has to have to believe that permitting a culture of crime within the poor and the drug addicted will not spill over to touch ever part of our society is bordering on psychotic. It is now clear to me that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew that the poor and drug afflicted of our society would become the new blacks, the new slaves to be treated as inhuman, unequal, and therefore in no need of our compassion or protection.

Oh and by the way, I think that it is incredibly disrespectful and even bordering on negligent for the new Director of Tourism, Jaime López Díaz, to state that his office needed to implement the Public Relations Crisis Plan, "para llevar el mensaje a nivel internacional de que esto es un caso sin precedentes en la Isla y que Puerto Rico continúa siendo un destino seguro y de excelencia.” What he is saying is that that are going to broadcast at the international level that this is an unprecedented case in the island and that Puerto Rico continues to be a safe and excellent destination. Yes it is so safe that it's elite citizens want to live in walled communities surrounded by 24 hour security. Yes, it is so safe that those that don't live in a secure community must place bars over every possible entrance to their houses. Yes it is so safe that the ex-Director of the power company needed 3 full-time body guards. Yes, it is such an excellent place that most of the bathrooms in our public beaches are either broken or locked. Yes our beaches are so excellent that they look like trash dumps.

With my deepest sympathies to the families of Sarah Kuszak and Emily Villanueva Caballero, I am only left with hope. As Puerto Rico continues its' rapid descent to the bottom in every possible aspect of civilization, we are one step closer to things getting better. We will finally wake up. This is not the Matrix, we will eventually have our eyes wrenched open to see the disaster, suffering, and insanity that we have created.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Steve Rhodes

Why advertising won't save tourism

Do you remember back in 2007 when the Puerto Rico Tourism Company announced they were spending half a million dollars on creating a new brand for Puerto Rico? Besides it being a really stupid idea, did you know that they have yet to unveil that new brand?

Why is it a stupid idea? In Online Revealed Conference I had an interesting debate with an attendee about whether advertising worked. Now I admitted that an absolute position such as 'Advertising doesn't work' is unrealistic because it is a gross generalization and simplification of the issue. However, I still contend that the majority of advertising is completely useless.

Once again, Seth Godin put it much better than I could when he recently wrote about "What advertising can't fix." In my opinion, this sentiment describes nearly exactly the mentality behind the PRTC strategy for marketing Puerto Rico.

If you talk to a senior PRTC employee they will probably bring up the number of hotel rooms, the number of flights to Puerto Rico, the amount of advertising they are doing, but I doubt very seriously they will talk about what tourists experience when they visit Puerto Rico.

I know that it must be difficult for most marketing traditionalists to admit that advertising is not nearly as effective as they would like to believe, but it still baffles me how little credence most marketing directors, and especially the current one for PRTC, place in the importance of experience. If it isn't important, then please tell me why most people are insanely crazy about visiting Orlando and Walt Disney World. And plu-ease don't tell me that it's because of marketing. Unless you are willing to concede that the product is the marketing. From movies to DVDs to the amusement parks, everything works together to create an illusion. An illusion that is fulfilled when you check into their hotels or step foot into one of their parks.

Now imagine you are Joe Palooka from Ohio and you've decided to come to Puerto Rico to catch a cruise. You take a taxi ride to the Old San Juan Sheraton and you see buildings with bars on the windows, you see beggars at the stop lights, you see trash littering the streets. There is graffitti on most buldings that aren't covered with a thousand bills advertising everything from the latest politicians to strippers to fumigators. There are a bunch of people protesting and camping at the entrace to Old San Juan.

You arrive at the hotel, check-in, and get settled. You are determined to see Old San Juan and venture off into the streets. There you encounter abandoned buildings, abandoned cars, more beggars, more trash. You are bombarded by traffic with horns blaring from impatient drivers. Most of the citizens you encounter seem indifferent to your presence if not offended by your color and nationality.

Since you are close you decide to go to Escambron Beach, one of the "blue flag" beaches of Puerto Rico. You are let off in front of the beach and the trash cans are overflowing, the bathrooms are closed and port-a-potties dot the landscape. Again, there is trash everywhere; on the streets, in the parking lot, on the sand, and in the ocean.

Once back home your friends ask, "How was your trip?" They press for answers, "How was Old San Juan? It looks so beautiful in the ads." Now I ask you, what do you think Joe is going to say? When he relates his experience to his friends, his family, or his co-workers, what adjectives do you think he will use? Do you think he will use the adjectives that are highlighted in the advertisements or the ones from his personal experience? Ladies and gentlemen, I don't care what statistics you can provide, I'm going to have to go with Seth on this one: "But if it is broken, advertising isn't going to fix it."

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Experiencias de viagem de 1 Brasileiro

Destinia introduces English hotel search

One of these days, of course when DóndeEs.com is a huge success, I'd like to go back to Spain to visit my wife's aunt in Córdaba. While the hotel we stayed at last time was in a great location, right across from the 'La Mezquita,' we left wishing that we had stayed someplace else. The problem was, before we booked our hotel, we didn't really know that much about Córdaba. I wish we would have had access to a resource like Destinia.com. Note: The following is a paid review.

Destinia introduces in English market

Destinia is a Spanish online travel agency that is now introducing it's services for the English language market. With Destinia, travelers can search hotels within a catalog of more than 150.000 hotels in countries all over the world. In addition, the site provides searches for activities, beaches, car rentals, and flights.

Probably the best way to search for hotels is to use their wide selection of travel guides. This way simplifies the search by guiding you through selecting the continent, country, region and place and then choosing the hotel that most interests you. The other option is by using the hotel search engine, where you can enter your destination, the arrival and departure dates, the number of people traveling with you and rooms required. This will do an availability search and will offer up a list of the the best hotel deals.

I'm not sure when we'll be able to go back, hopefully soon, but I do know one thing. When we start our planning, I know we'll use Destinia.com to do our hotel research and probably make our reservations.

Vacationing in Utuado

Your old pal Don Dees and his family are heading out to the mountains of Puerto Rico. We're going to be staying at one of the paradores located in Utuado close to Lago Dos Bocas (Two Mouths Lake). We're looking forward to spending some time getting to know the central/western mountainous region of the island known as La Cordillera Central.

Did you know?

• In land area Utuado is the third largest municipality in Puerto Rico (after Arecibo and Ponce).
  
• According to the 2000 US Census the city has a population of 35,336 spread over 24 wards and Utuado Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city).
  
• The name Utuado derives from the Taíno word “otoao", meaning "between mountains."
• In 1906 Utuado had the honor of being visited by President Theodore Roosevelt, who recommended building a bridge in the area known as "La Playita."

During my absence, I'll be automagically posting a few articles. I hope you enjoy them. When I get back, hopefully I'll have some interesting posts from my trip. Happy Constituion Day!

Online Revealed - An Internet Marketing Conference for Tourism

Have you ever wondered what it would do to our economy if airline tickets became too expensive for the majority of tourists? Will virtual tourism replace it? Maybe Second Life would become the preferred way to travel. Or even more plausible, maybe Cisco Systems would invent a variation of their incredible Telepresence system that would allow virtual tourists to visit Puerto Rico from the cheap and safe confines of a local Telepresence center?

Did you know?

In a recent presentation by John Chambers, CEO for Cisco Systems, Inc., mentioned that Cisco's TelePresence virtual conferencing system was a key component to their strategy. Chambers says the conferencing system has saved Cisco $180 million in travel expenses in the past year. Additionally, Chambers says he interfaced with twice as many customers but traveled 50% less.

Inaugural Internet Marketing Strategy Conference - Online Revealed Caribbean

Fortunately for us, the oil crisis hasn't reached such a drastic point, but it should be clear to everyone in the local tourism industry that competition for tourism dollars will get increasingly more difficult. If you ask ole Don Dees (hammer), I'll tell you that this problem (nail) sure looks like it needs an Internet-based solution.

So the recently announced Online Revealed Caribbean conference should hold immense value as Puerto Rico prepares for the heightened competition to come. Online Revealed Caribbean comes to Puerto Rico this September 17-19, 2008 at the Caribe Hilton. Travel industry professionals can register for the two day one of a kind opportunity at www.onlinerevealed.com and take advantage of the early bird registration fee of only $299, until August 15th.

Attendees of the first ever Online Revealed Caribbean Conference will hear straight talk about how to reach customers directly through tactics like Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Advertising, Online PR, Social Media Marketing and more. Content will include real case studies of how destinations have been successful in driving traffic to their websites and realizing revenues that are trackable back to online marketing initiatives, along with practical application workshops covering how to get started with website development, web marketing, measuring online success, and more.

In the conference you'll learn how to (detailed agenda):

• Optimize a website to be found in search engines - above the competition (Did you know? Three-fifths of online travel shoppers cite search engines as resources to research their vacations, source:PhoCusWright)
• Maximize what your Destination Marketing Organizations can do to help your web presence
• How to build your online reputation through Online PR
• Going beyond Tripadvisor! Learn what you can do to become a part of the conversations about your brand online
• Analyze your best performing sources of online business and how to maximize each channel
• Hear case studies of successful online marketing within the Caribbean travel area and beyond to other destinations who have had success driving traffic to purchase travel online
• Network with industry professionals and technology experts in a interactive and fun environment.

Real People, Real Solutions, Real Caribbean!

Did you know? When online travel shoppers move from searching to travel planning, they usually begin at an online travel website (54 percent), source: Nielsen//NetRatings.

Who is Online Revealed? With three successful annual conferences in Canada reaching over 800 tourism professionals, presenting over 46 workshops and featuring innovative local and international tourism professionals and technology providers who together connect the dots and bring clarity to marketing tourism products online. Online Revealed recognizes the unique opportunity that the 24 countries within the Caribbean travel market have to reach the millions who are directly searching and buying travel online.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: blucolt

SoFo Culinary Fest 2008

For those of you heading down to the SoFo Culinary Festival 2008, we've got a new interactive map to help you plan your culinary route before you get there.

We've started working with CODEVISA, and should be making some pretty exciting announcements with them soon. As a start, we've created this new interactive map. It contains the relative location of all of the restaurants participating in the festival.

What's so special at the SoFo Culinary Fest 2008?

Well, Sofo is a super 'fest' held since 2004 in summer and in late November. It is estimated that nearly 120 thousand people attend each edition of the culinary festival, says Marisol Dieppa, director of CODEVISA, a non-profit organization that promotes economic development in Old San Juan where they operate nearly 80 restaurants, from small cafes to 'fine dining'.

What's to eat?

Well, to start there will be five thousand fresh oysters which have been brought in from Japan, as well as hundreds of crocodile chicharrones. In addition there will be German sausages, zarzuelas, ceviches, risotto, roasted Turks, paellas, lo mein, arañitas, hummus, and snails.

And that's just a sample, which is exactly what most of the chefs will be preparing. Almost all of the participating restaurants will be giving away mini portions of their star dishes and new cocktails on the street in front of their premises.

And to drink?

You'll be able to choose from a Blue Cheese Martini (Tantra), Sake Martini (J Taste), Mojito enamorao (Raíces), Peach Mojito (The Parrot Club), Pineapple Mojito (Fratelli)... Blue Cheese Martini (Tantra), Sake Martini (J Taste), Mojito enamorao (Estate), Peach Mojito (The Parrot Club), or a Pineapple Mojito (Fratelli). The 'mojito' is definitely the new 'in' cocktail, and SoFo will be the place where bartenders will be launching new drinks created just for SoFo.

What else?

Well you should know that the Teatro Tapia will serve as you central source for information when you arrive. If you have any questions, that's where to head. There will be nine stages spread out along the "Culinary Route". Two will be in Plaza Colon, three along Forteleza street, three along Recinto Sur, and one in Plaza Arturo Somohano. Finally, parking will be available in Estacionamiento Covadonga, Estacionamiento de la Puntilla, Estacionamiento Doña Fela, and Estacionamiento Paseo Portuario.

Sal! pa' SoFo

Starting Thursday, June 5th CODEVISA and Old San Juan will celebrate its 11th Old San Juan Culinary Fest. This year, they will be presenting the largest gastronomic festival in Puerto Rico. With the participation of 40 restaurants, the festival will include not only the south part of Calle Forteleza but also a zone of 6 streets where the 40 restaurants are located.

In addition, the festival will offer eight different stages where there will be a variety of musical presentations. No matter whether you prefer Cuban, Brazilan, Puerto Rican, or just plain Jazz, there will always be some music to your liking somewhere. The highlight of the musical performers will be a presentation by the Puerto Rico Philharmonic Orchestra. They will perform at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday June 6th in Plaza Colón.

During the festival, the "código de orden público" or Public Order Code will be lifted. That means that you'll be able to carry open containers of alcohol, while walking down the streets of Old San Juan. "Woo Whoo," he says in his best Homer Simpson impersonation.

A partial schedule for some of the key activities for Sal! pa' SoFo follows:

Thursday, June 5th:

• 6:00 p.m. - Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with Honorable Jorge Santini, Mayor of San Juan
  Fortaleza Esq. O'Donnell
• 7:30 p.m. - Flair Show, Sr. Manuel Picón, National Bartending Champion
  Plaza Arturo Somohano

Saturday, June 7th:

• 6:00 p.m. - Puerto Rico Philharmonic Orchestra
  Plaza Colón

Sunday, June 8th:

• 4:00 p.m. - Waiter Races (Carrera de los Mozos)
  Plazas Colón and Arturo Somohano
• 6:00 p.m. - Benny's Balloon
  Demonstration of the confection of balloon figures
  
• 6:30 p.m. - Mini Chef
  Demonstration of plates prepared by children
  From Chef Rita Rosado de Sweet Cow and Rita's Cuisine
  

Repeat Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: Oquendo

Parques Nacionales Invests $20 Million

In many ways, the National Parks Company (La Compañia de Parques Nacionales) is the ugly step sister to the Tourism Company (La Compañia de Turismo). I say ugly sister because the National Parks Company works very hard to promote tourism for the island, but receives only a small fraction of the attention, press, and credit for the success of the tourism industry in Puerto Rico.

Well according to a recent study conducted by Estudios Técnicos, the National Park System generates approximately $94.5 million annually for the local economy and provides more than 1,000 jobs. The top two park properties generating the biggest impact are the Centro Vacacional Boquerón in Cabo Rojo ($10.1 million annually) and the Zoológico Dr. Juan A. Rivero Cubano in Mayaguez ($7 million annually). In today's economy I believe that represents a significant contribution and therefore a bit more respect. Well the good news, is that they are not going to be resting on their laurels.

La Compañia de Parques Nacionales (CPN) has announced that they will be investing $20 million in 2008. The investments are split between opening new properties and improving existing properties. If you would like to familiarize yourself with all of their existing properties, then I'd invite you to visit our exclusive map we built for Parques Nacionales. First let's introduce the new properties.

Parque Nacional Laguna Condado

In August, the CPN plans to open a new park on two acres of land surrounding the Condado Lagoon. The new facility will offer gazebos, kayak and row boat rental, concession stands, and a building that will serve as a center for marketing and reservations for the CPN.

Parque Nacional del Karso

With over 3,800 acres in the Rio Tanamá Valley, this new park will be located in Arecibo, Hatillo, and Utuado. This land was previously a tobacco farm, and the CPN has indicated that they are already in the process of declaring the land officially a national park.

Villas del Sun Bay

Finally, in the first construction of a center for vacation in 38 years, the CPN will invest $10 million in the construction of 50 villas on the grounds of Sun Bay beach. Each villa is planned to sleep six persons and is expected to cost $109 per night, which is the standard rate for any of the villa rentals in any one of the CPN's vacation centers. The construction, which already has all of the permissions for the development, is expected to be completed in two years.

Renovations

As mentioned above, the CPN also plans on renovating three of their existing vacation centers. First, he CPN will be investing $2 million in their top producer, the Vacation Center Boquerón in Cabo Rojo. In total the vacation center has 335 villas and cabañas. In addition, the CPN will also be investing $700K in renovating the 24 cabañas in the Vacation Center Monte del Estado in Maricao. They will also be investing $3 million in renovating the beach and Vacation Center Punta Guilarte in Arroyo. And in two final investments, the CPN will be renovating the camping grounds ar Cerro Gordo to the tune of $2.5 million and they will also be investing a cool million in renovating the collection of animals in the Zoo in Mayagüez as well as building a new veterinarian clinic. I hope they mean they'll be buying some new animals or mating them, and not conducting like genetic mutation experiments to create new animals. I'd hate to see it become the Zoológico Dr. Moreau. On the other hand that would surely pack'em in. Hmm....

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: jasonsager

Embassy Suites Reinaugurates Casino

For those of you who like to partake of the gaming tables or the slot machines, then maybe you'll have to schedule a trip to Isla Verde to check out the newly reinaugurated facilities at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The renovations are estimated to have cost around $6 million.

So what can you expect from the changes? Well, first of all the casino now features the money-less system that have been implemented in many other casinos on the island. Of course, the new "Ticket In-Ticket-Out" system applies to the money swallowing machines, which had to be replaced to implement the new system. The casino now has 328 slot machines available for your money feeding pleasures. However, I don't know about you, but I'll miss the physicality of feeding the money into the machine.

With 7,000 square feet, the casino now features new carpet and decoration, and a little bit of Big Brother. The gaming tables now feature a video monitoring system which records the bets of the players. Of course, this is for the "benefit" of the players, as the system will grant points to players for the bets they place. These points will be redeemable for prizes, including nights in the hotel, food, and memorabilia from the casino. I can just hear some husband in the future explaining to his wife why there is an unexplained charge to the credit card: "Yes I know honey, I lost $1,000 at Black Jack, but I won this nice T-shirt. (He says grinning nervously)"

According to the general manager of the hotel, Luis Arellano, they plan on investing $2 million more in the hotel. The plans include improving the decoration of the hotel, replacing the sofa-beds in the suites, and installing new LCD plasma televisions in the rooms. The hotel also plans on opening two new restaurants in 2009.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: Lady AnnDerground

Puerto Rico: Gastronomic Capital of the Caribbean

The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association (PRHTA) recently announced their plans to make Puerto Rico the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean with "Saborea Puerto Rico: A Culinary Extravaganza (Savor Puerto Rico)." According to the PRHTA, the event will showcase the best talents of the Puerto Rican kitchen. In other words, this is yet another of these exclusive dining experiences created to stimulate tourism, like SOFO and the Culinary Festival in the Convention Center. This dining extravaganza will be held April 5th and 6th on the grounds of the Balneario de Carolina.

Essentially this is an activity which features "fine-dining" organized into event. The idea here is to charge, in my opinion, an exorbitant price to sample fine food and beverages. But I'll let you be the judge, I for one, can't afford the prices of any of these gastronomic festivals, so I really don't know if they are worth the money or not. But just from the outside, it looks pretty expensive.

During this extravaganza, there are three main activities. Each of the activities, por supuesto, features probably some of the best food available on the island and probably unlimited wine and beer. However, on average, the cost is $100 per person. Now, I'm not a complete zero to the left when it comes to dining out, but I don't think I've ever spent $100 on just myself. Maybe the most might have been spent is $60 or $70. Of course I'm not talking about throwing back a half a dozen or a dozen or more drinks, now that could certainly add up, but to tell you the truth, those kind of drinking days are long gone in the highlights of my youth.

I guess the novelty and value is in the opportunity to try and taste a little bit of everything. And if you get there at opening time, which is 11:00 a.m., and you stay till closing time, which is 6:00 p.m., I guess you could really get two meals out of the experience plus an afternoon of unlimited drinking. If that's your plan, then I'd definitely go for it. If you do go, drop a comment and let us know what you thought.

Besides the fine dining and drinking, the event will feature seminars, cooking demonstrations, wine tasting sessions, food and beverage tastings and children’s cooking classes. The children's cooking classes are extra though. Or maybe these are really just "cuido de niños" in disguise. Yeah, honey let's hit the extravaganza, dump the kids at the "cooking classes" and go party by ourselves. Woo hoo!

One nice twist to this event is that part of the funds generated by Saborea will be used by the PRHTA Educational Fund to provide training and certification for new people in the hospitality industry and for employees who are already working in this sector.

Cavernas de Camuy reopened

After the tragic death of a tourist in early January, the Compañia de Parques Nacionales (CPN) announced that the doors to the Parques de Cavernas, the popular tourist attraction, were reopened on February 15th.

According to Ramón Nieves, Direcvtor of the CPN, the park was reopened after an investment of approximately $150,000. Included within this investment was the purchase of hardhats for visitors, an all terrain vehicle that will serve as a ambulance for the facility, and the purchase of a defibrillator. In addition, the investment provided for the rehabilitation of Espiral Cueva. Espiral will substitute Cueva Clara, which was the location of the fatal accident. Espiral was closed after the pass of Hurricane Georges in 1998. Cueva Clara is scheduled to reopen in June 2008.

The Parque de Cavernas provides employment for 61 people and receives approximately 150,000 tourists annually.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: d&e

San Juan selected as top alternative Spring Break destination

The popular travel website Orbitz has selected San Juan as one of the top ten alternative destinations during spring break (typically for arrival 3/1/08 to 4/15/08). Ahh yes, Spring Break that traditional rite of passage for drunken college students to survive and return with wild and crazy stories. Well as you might expect, if your planning a family vacation and you're looking to take in some fun in the sun, then choosing any popular beach town in Florida, like Ft Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, Miami, and you're likely to have a different vacation than you expected.

Spring break may be synonymous with college kids and party scenes, but there's a also a large segment of the market that is traveling with younger kids on break, as well as those going spring skiing or simply looking to escape the cold," said Heather Leisman, Senior Director of Merchandising at Orbitz. "Our Insiders have picked some great places to avoid the crowds and enjoy a memorable vacation."

Top 10 Alternative Spring Break Destinations

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
3. San Diego, CA
4. San Juan, Puerto Rico
5. San Antonio, TX
6. Tampa, FL
7. Seattle, WA
8. Reno, NV
9. Austin, TX
10. Tucson, AZ

Well, I'm not sure everyone on the "insider" list got the same message. Because, you know, alternative does have another popular interpretation. And since San Francisco shows up as number one on the list (and it is not known for being terribly warm in March), I think this might actually be the top ten alternative lifestyle destination, which is probably something most families wouldn't want to experience in their family vacation either! And I have heard rumors that San Juan is a very popular travel destination for people with alternative lifestyles, so who knows what this list is...

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: icanteachyouhowtodoit

Trump Plans Puerto Rico Golf Complex

In an amazing show of confidence for project development in Puerto Rico, "The Donald", Mr Apprentice himself, announced last Friday a partnership to build a $600 million golf complex. The complex, which will be called The Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico, will be developed with local construction company Empresas Diaz Inc.

The project will be located on a 1,000 acre plot joining up with the current Coco Beach Golf & Country Club, It will include include 500 residences. The first 56 villas, to be sold at prices starting at $1.4 million, will include access to a private jet, a yacht and limousine service.

Developers plan to improve the Coco Beach Golf & Country Club, and open a new clubhouse before March 17, when the 36-hole course hosts the Puerto Rico Open, a PGA Tour event.

Considering the severe blow the development industry is suffering through with the debacle at the Paseo del Caribe project, this is a huge announcement. It should help calm potential investors in other projects and if leveraged correctly enable local officials to close some additional deals.

Analysis

Wow, $1.4 million a pop, with private jet, yacht, and limousine service. We're definitely talking normal people here. We're also not talking about local people either, maybe a few, I guess. Unless these are the most expensive time shares, ever, we are talking second or third houses for these high rollers.

So whenever the spirit moves them, they are going to zip down to their Trump International Golf Club house for a few rounds of golf and some tanning on the beach. While they are here, they might want to eat, shop, and perhaps party a little. Where are they going to take care of these things? Well there meet these needs. Something tells me that if you pay $1.4 smackaroonies you don't shop at Outlet stores, so I guess the Belz Factory Outlet World won't do. As for fine dining, well with the exception of the resorts in the area (like the Gran Meliá Puerto Rico), to my knowledge, the north east of Puerto Rico is not known as a mecca of fine cuisine. Same goes for nightclubs as well.

So there are really only two conclusions. It's probable that a small cottage industry will emerge around this community to cater to the discretions of these new "residents", which I'm sure will happen on a small scale. But what is more probable, these new "residents" will have to truck themselves into San Juan to satisfy their interests.

OK, so they've gotten their fill of golf, sand and sun, and they jet off of the island to their regular fabulous lives. Now what? Who'll be taking care of these villas? I don't know, maybe this is something that people who live the lifestyle of the Rich and Famous already know about, but somebody has to keep these places in order. So maybe the project will provide some kind of service that keeps the place in order in expectation for the owners. Yeah, more menial jobs that no one wants. Can you hear the teenagers shout out across the land, "Oh please yes, I want a career in lawn maintenance." In many ways, this represents one of Puerto Rico's biggest challenges. As tourism grows in importance to the future economy of Puerto Rico, how can we sustain the Gross Domestic Product by replacing high paying manufacturing jobs with lower paying construction and tourism supporting jobs?

Coqui Water Park

El Conquistador Resort and Golden Spa has announced the opening of the new newest addition to the resort, a water park. The new water park, which is estimated to have cost $12 million features a 9,000 square foot infinity pool, an 8,000 square foot lazy river, a 253 foot double inner tube slide, high speed slides, a 26 foot flume body slide, and a kiddie pool and slide. (Note: the links feature virtual movies of the water slides; the link will open in a new window. I did some link hacking to bring these to you without having to navigate to the El Conquistador web site, but if you'd prefer the full marketing experience they are available here, which as has a really nice layout of the park in PDF format.)

The park is said to have been inspired by the the neighboring El Yunque Rainforest. The design of the park aims to blend rainforest design elements with state-of-the-art water ride technology. For example, the water park's main tower is called Torre de Yocahu, which is El Yunque's God of Good. The three water slides are called "El Gigante Dormido (Sleeping giant)", "Huracán (Hurricane)", and "Marohu (Taino God of Clear Weather)".

One drawback to the new waterpark though. It is only open to exclusively to hotel guests. Hmm, I think I'll go out on a limb and say that this policy will change. It seems like a lot of money to have sit mostly unused during the non-peak times of June, July, and August. Even if they do open it to the public, it will still remain rather pricey. Tickets for children 2 - 12 will be $14.95, and those 12 and over will pay $19.95. For Familia Don Dees we're talking roughly $90, sans gas, tools, and food for a day at the water park. In these recessionary times, that seems like a lot of money to cough up when compared to a quick dip in the nearest beach. Park hours will be 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

A different view of travel to Puerto Rico

I came across a nice little article from Anne Banas, a staff writer for SmarterTravel.com. I find here article refreshing because it offers, if you will, a different perspective of Puerto Rico than we usually accept. In her column "Escapes Under $500", she illustrates that, depending on where you live in the United States, it is possible to enjoy a nice four night stay in Puerto Rico for a very reasonable price. With luxury resorts like Palmas and El Conquistador (among many other really nice hotels), I'm afraid there is a general perception that Puerto Rico represents an expensive vacation. (And for just a few dollars more, you can visit can take a ferry to Blue Beach in Vieques, which is shown here...)

In the article, Banas points out the valuable new campaign by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. The re-new Puerto Rico NOW promotion gives travelers $250 back upon check out, this is the same promotion used last year by the PRTC. To qualify you must:

• stay for four nights
• select a participating hotel (*)
• use the PRTC booking engine at gotoPuerto Rico.com
• travel before April 30th, 2008
• Book the trip before Jan 21st.

There are some limitations to the offer, however. It is only cash back on purchases within the hotel of food and drinks. Which, looking at the list of hotels, $250 in food and drinks shouldn't be difficult to attain. A couple of breakfasts, a lunch or two, and one night eating in the hotel should do the trick.

* Participating hotels include the Caribe Hilton, El Convento, Holiday Inn San Juan, Radisson Ambassador, San Juan Marriott and the Normandie Hotel in the San Juan metropolitan area; the Gran Melia and the Wyndham Rio Mar in the northeast; the Howard Johnson in Porta Caribe in the southern region, and the Rincon Beach Resort and Western Bay in the west in Porta del Sol.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: sandcastlematt

Historic Lighthouses of Puerto Rico

In a way, this post picks up where one of my most impassioned posts left off. While I have some great news and information to share, let me get this off my chest first. If, as Mr. Jose Luis Vega and hundreds of others state, we have the talent to manage the restoration of the Fortin San Jeronimo, why aren't we using that talent to save the seven (yes, there are six more beside the Guánica Lighthouse) that are, according to some lighthouse enthusiasts, in danger of being lost forever?

It enrages me when we selectively choose when to claim our pride about being Puerto Rican. While we consistently claim our patrimony, how can such an obvious part of that patrimony (the beacons of safety for mariners) go so completely ignored and abused? I call upon us all to accept the challenge to take control of this situation and restore, preserve, and honor our patrimony represented in the lighthouses of Puerto Rico.

As part of DóndeEs.com' s commitment to preserve our heritage, we've created a new custom map that includes the locations and information for the 16 lighthouses of Puerto Rico. We hope that it will serve to raise awareness about the plight of lighthouses that are in need of repair and will stimulate interest in those that have been restored and stand as shining examples of our true patrimony.

Although one thing I'll confess right now there are some drastically conflicting information onthe Internet on the status and condition of the lighthouses, so the information contained here is a compilation, but bound to be somewhat incomplete. I hope to personally try to visit most of these in 2008 and verify for myself the state of this irreplaceable pieces of our history.

Lighthouses of Puerto Rico

The first lighthouse made in Puerto Rico was atop El Morro in 1846. In 1869 a proposal was approved that would establish 14 other lighthouses to create what was known as the "Plan of marine lighting system". This plan is documented in a nice graphic (provided at left, fyi, larger image if clicked on) will illustrates how each of the lighthouses would provide 360 degree coverage of Puerto Rico and provide protection for captains no matter what direction they approached. In the end, 16 lighthouses were built, with most of them finished between 1886 and 1900.

The lighthouses which are open to visit on a daily basis and easily accessible are (if you follow the link to the custom map, switch to Satellite mode and zoom in close for a excellent view of all of these lighthouses):

• Punta Morrillo, Arecibo (1898)
  
• Punta Higuero, Rincón (Restored 1922)
  
• El Morro, San Juan (1846)
  
• Cabo San Juan, Fajardo (1880)
  
• Los Morrillos, Cabo Rojo (1882)
  
• Punta de las Figuras, Arroyo (1893)
  
• Punta Mulas, Vieques (1896)
  

Doomsday Lighthouses

According to the article ("The Doomsday Lighthouses of Puerto Rico", Lighthouse Digest of February 2002) written by the Lighthouse People, Bob and Sandra Shanklin, there are eight lighthouses which are in grave danger of being lost completely and forever. Doesn't that word shock anyone else, forever. Luckily, one which they list as endangered, Punta de las Figuras in Arroyo, has been restored and is part of the Centros Vacacionales at Punta Guilarte, which is managed by the Compañia de Parques Nacionales. In what follows, is our hall of shame, the six lighthouses still in desparate need of our loving care and attention (status summarized from article):

• Faro de Isla Culebrita, Culebrita (1886) - This lighthouse was heavily damaged in Hurricane Georges. Most of the actual light part of the light house was lost, but the walls still seem strong.
  

• Puerto Ferro, Vieques (1896) - According to photographs and accounts by the Lighthouse People, this lighthouse is "in very bad shape". While at one time caught up in the Vieques bombing range controversy, it seems that this structure is indeed quite endangered.

• Caja de Muertos, Ponce (1887) - Although not in very good shape, Caja de Muertos Lighthouse was in the best condition of any we consider belonging on the "Doomsday List." The lantern room was rusty and in terrible shape, with no original lens, just a plastic optic.
  

• Faro de Guanica, Guanica (1893) -As I mentioned before, I saw first hand the sad shape of the Guanica Lighthouse. It is in terrible shape, much the same as Culebrita and Point Figuras. Walls standing and the tower, with piles of rubble inside, and only a part of the lantern room remaining. A photograph of the current shape of this lighthouse is available here.
  

• Isla Mona, Mayagüez (1900) - The lighthouse on Mona Island is abandoned, and there are several modern beacons to take its place. This lighthouse is the only metal tower lighthouse in Puerto Rico. We have heard that the man who built the Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel himself, designed it. It is in terrible shape, and most likely will not be restored or stabilized due to its remote location.
  

• Los Morrillos, Cabo Rojo (1882) - While this lighthouse was listed in bad shape in 2002 in the article, the municipality of Cabo Rojo restored it again and now looks like the leading photograph at the top of the post, which was from May 2007 and it looks like it is in pretty good shape.
  

Five beaches awarded exclusive Blue Flags

This week five beaches in Puerto Rico were awarded Blue Flags from the Foundation of Environmental Education. The five beaches are now available in a custom map on DóndeEs.com. The beaches receiving the distinction are: the Seven Seas in Fajardo, Escambrón in San Juan, the La Monserrate in Luquillo, Punta Salinas in Toa Baja, and the Carolina public beach.

The Blue Flag is a voluntary and exclusive eco-label awarded in 2007 to more than 3300 beaches and marinas in 36 countries across Europe, Morocco, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and the Caribbean.

The Blue Flag works towards sustainable development at beaches and marinas through publicly awarding sites that meet strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. A few of the issues covered in the criteria include cleanliness, provisions for waste and recycling, zoning of activities, and environmental education activities for a variety of people. The program has also recently started a voluntary scheme for private boat owners called the Individual Blue Flag, which boaters can fly if they have signed and agreed to follow an environmental code of conduct.

The criteria involved with the obtaining the distinction are:

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND INFORMATION

• Information relating to coastal zone ecosystems and natural, sensitive areas in the coastal zone must be displayed
• Information about bathing water quality must be displayed
• Information about the Blue Flag Programme must be displayed
• Code of conduct for the beach area must be displayed and the laws governing beach use must be easily available to the public upon request
• A minimum of 5 environmental education activities must be offered

WATER QUALITY

• Compliance with the requirements and standards for excellent bathing water quality
• No industrial or sewage related discharges may affect the beach area
• Monitoring on the health of coral reefs located in the vicinity of the beach
• Compliance of the community with requirements for sewage treatment and effluent quality
• Algae or other vegetation should be left to decay on the beach unless it constitutes a nuisance

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

• A beach management committee must be established to be in charge of instituting environmental management systems and conduct regular environmental audits of the beach facility
• The beach must comply with all regulations affecting the location and operation of the beach (coastal zone planning and environmental legislation)
• The beach must be clean
• Waste disposal bins/receptacles must be available on/by the beach in adequate numbers, regularly maintained and emptied
• Facilities for receiving recyclable waste materials must be available on/by the beach
• Adequate and clean sanitary facilities with controlled sewage disposal
• On the beach there will be no unauthorised camping or driving and no dumping
• Regulation concerning dogs and other domestic animals on the beach must be strictly enforced
• All buildings and equipment of the beach must be properly maintained
• Sustainable means of transportation must be promoted in the beach area

SAFETY AND SERVICES

• An adequate number of lifeguards and/or lifesaving equipment must be available at the beach
• First aid equipment must be available on the beach
• There must be management of different users and uses of the beach so as to prevent conflicts and accidents
• An emergency plans to cope with pollution safety risks must be in place
• There must be safe access to the beach
• The beach area must be patrolled
• A supply of potable drinking water must be available on the beach
• A minimum of one Blue Flag beach in each municipality must have access and toilet facilities provided for disabled persons
• Map of the beach indicating different facilities must be displayed

Río Mar Beach Resort & Spa reopens casino

As part of a $35 million dollar investment in the hotel, Wyndham Grand Resorts recently announced the completion of the first of many renovations in the Río Mar Beach Resort & Spa. With an investment of more than $5 million, the hotel announced that they were reopening their casino, which is called "Club Bahia".

The renovations include first, new interior decoration from Tishman Hotel Design. The casino, which features 7,000 square feet of space, now includes 170 new slot machines that incorporate the concept of casinos without money ("Ticket In-Ticket Out"). This concept allows players to purchase a ticket which will serve as the player's wallet as they go from machine to machine consuming and, hopefully, accumulating money electronically. The ticket eliminates the need to deal with changing money, carrying around your money, and exchanging your money for cash. Although, if the player is lucky enough to walk out with his shirt still on his back, he'll still need to exchange the ticket for money.

Additional changes to the casino include 12 new tables for BlackJack, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, and Hold'em Poker. And finally, get this, new chairs. Yep, no more funky bean burrito scented chairs anymore. They have also renovated the bar with new 50" plasma (or as we say here plama) television monitors.

Other changes planned as part of the $35 million dollar investment include remodeling the 600 rooms, improvements in the spa, the golf club house, and finally the restaurants. Future plans for the hotel include developing a time-sharing complex at an estimated cost of $300 million. The project will be located on an estate consisting of 26 acres purchased by Wyndham Grand Resorts.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: Jeff Kubina