Smart Meetings July 2022 Digital Issue - 79

RESOURCE
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Discover Puerto Rico
Fresh produce
market
I
magine for a moment, the following: You've had productive meetings all
morning at the Puerto Rico Convention Center and it's time to get out and
          
means to live local in Puerto Rico.
         panadería (the word 'bakery'
            quesito
drizzled with guava and dusted with chocolate. Of course, you're pairing it with
             
              
for over a century.
Then you drive a stop in the arts-infused barrio of Santurce where street art
rivals that of Miami's Wynwood District. Bright murals vie for your attention and
            
area back to life.
Later in the evening, you stop for seafood and rum-infused cocktails on the
coast and head for a swim in La Parguera in one of Puerto Rico's three biolu
          
exist in the world). There's a sliver of a moon out, which means the glowing
plankton that throb with light just at the surface of the waves are more easily
seen. Brush your hand through the water and the green-blue phosphorescence
gets brighter in its wake.
This is what it means to " Live Boricua " and it's
why Discover Puerto Rico is rolling out a brandnew
leisure and meetings marketing program to
share the endless possibilities of living local with
meeting planners.
" To Live Boricua is an experience like no
other, and research has shown us that once a
traveler gets a taste of it, they understand what
truly makes Puerto Rico special and they crave
more, " said Leah Chandler, CDME, chief market
       
announcing the campaign. " Every detail of the
brand campaign was intentionally and thoughtfully
created by Puerto Ricans, who expressed a sense
of pride in seeing the creative articulation of the
       
" The essence of Live Boricua means to 'live
like us,' and promises a deeper and more meaningful
experience for travelers, " said Jean-Paul
Polo, Emmy-award-winning director of creative
strategy for Discover Puerto Rico.
Deborah Cohen, CMP, director of meeting &
convention marketing at Discover Puerto Rico,
says the campaign is rolling out to the MICE
market as " Meet Boricua. "
" It means bringing our invitation to live local
to your meetings, " Cohen says. " There are so
many day trips that meeting participants can do
on a short drive. Old San Juan, for instance, is 15
minutes from Dr. Pedro Rosselló González Puerto
Rico Convention Center. You can visit a rainforest
         
authentic cuisine. "
" Planners are blown away when they encoun
        
fact that you don't need to bring your passport or
change money. "
Cohen points out that the " Meet Boricua "
brand will be coming to meeting planners in the
form of trade shows and invitations to FAM trips,
a source that Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto
Rico, says was a lifeline that kept the organization
close to meeting planners during the past
two high Covid years.
" Compared to prepandemic leads, bookings
and the size of meetings have all increased, "
Dean says.
A Catalyst for Recovery
The opening of Distrito T-Mobile entertainment and
foodie district within the Convention District has
become a catalyst for fusing economic recovery
with proud Puerto Rican heritage and culture and
has been " a game-changer for us, " Dean says.
From June 2021 to December 2021, the
79
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Smart Meetings July 2022 Digital Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Smart Meetings July 2022 Digital Issue
