TOURISM OFFERS WORKSHOPS FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS, ATTRACTIONS, AND EXCURSIONS FOR CRUISERS

San Juan, PR – May 14, 2018 – The interim executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (CTPR) and recently nominated for the executive director position by Governor Ricardo Rosselló, Carla Campos, indicated that the CTPR offered the workshop Product Development and Excellence in Destination Experience on Thursday, May 10, and Friday, May 11, 2018, at the Sheraton Old San Juan hotel. The workshop was led by trainer Beth Hatt, founder of the Canadian company Aquila, which is considered a leader in tourist operations aimed at cruise visitors.

The workshop agenda highlighted important topics such as: the impact of tourism and the cruise industry on the destination; how land excursions work; the service expectations of cruise travelers; how to create excursion packages; how to establish cost-effective packages; among others.

Within the workshops provided by Beth Hatt from Aquila, she emphasized that it is very important to create and make available to cruise lines and cruisers experiences that they will remember when they return home and that will make them wish to return to the destination.

“At the beginning of this year, we communicated that we would be focusing a large part of our work agenda on raising the quality of tourism service. Innovating and improving the experience of our excursions will be what allows us to impress the 1.7 million record cruise passengers we expect to receive in the upcoming winter season,” expressed Carla Campos, interim executive director of the CTPR. “These workshops are part of the initiatives we are providing at the CTPR to our industry partners, in coordination with the most qualified resources in various areas of Tourism.” These workshops aim to train and educate industry members to strengthen their service skills, quality, innovation, and safety measures for cruisers.

“The cruise industry has trusted in the resurgence of tourism on the Island and has been key in achieving an accelerated recovery of the sector, evidenced by the increase in cruise ship operations this semester, compared to the same period in 2017. The support of the cruise lines also constitutes a commitment from the administration of Governor Ricardo Rosselló to promote measures to raise our standards of quality and service. In this way, we not only recover from the impact of recent hurricanes but also bet on a strengthened resurgence,” indicated Campos.