In 2013, Fairmont will open a 500-room hotel on the site of the former Hyatt Regency Cerromar.
That property, later branded as a Hyatt,
closed in 2006, although the golf course on
the 1,400-acre site remained open.
Fairmont will roll out its brand in
Puerto Rico with the 2013 planned opening of its 500-room hotel on the site of the
former Hyatt Regency Cerromar, which
closed in 2003.
“We are diversifying our accommodations toward the luxury market,” said Narciso Moreno, the Puerto Rico Tourism Co.’s
regional sales director for the northeastern
U.S.
“Our biggest challenge is to maintain
the [average daily rate] in hotels and try to
get the rates back up to prerecession levels,” he said.
Both Emanuelli and Moreno said the
airlift into Puerto Rico was strong, particularly from the critical East Coast market,
its top visitor producer.
Total daily lift from all markets is 63
nonstop flights from 20 U.S. gateways.
“Our No. 2 market is the Midwest, and
many gateways there have direct or one-stop service to Puerto Rico,” Moreno said.
He cited Air Tran’s flights out of Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit as key to Mid-west arrival numbers in Puerto Rico.
Regional carrier Cape Air, based in San
Juan, codeshares with Continental, JetBlue and American, helping speed connections and feed visitors to and from
San Juan.
Both officials noted an increase in length
of stay for pre- and post-cruise passengers.
“We’ve added new attractions near San
Juan, so visitors on a tight schedule have
a chance to experience more of our offer-
ings,” Moreno said.
T W PHO TO B Y JOHANNA JAINCHILL
This year’s International Destination Expo was in San Juan.
bers also reminded travel agents to take advantage of Puerto Rico’s accessibility: Aside
from not needing a passport or visa to get to
Puerto Rico, the island is served by nonstop
air from every major East Coast gateway as
well as Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Joanne Baldwin, an agent from New York
who specializes in family travel, said she attends the expo because telling her clients she’s
been to a destination gives her an advantage.
“Just looking online, they don’t know
where they’re going, and it could be a photo that’s not current,” she said. “I like to go
to the destination and tell the client I’ve
been there.”
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WWW.TRAVELWEEKLY.COM
JUNE 27, 2011
