Turns out Hurricane Omar might be an eye opener for Puerto Rican tourism marketing. You see all of these tropical storms and Hurricanes tend to cause some disruption in many other Caribbean destinations, but rarely Puerto Rico. That seems like a very good value proposition to tourists:

Come visit the most beautiful island in the Caribbean where the wind and rain dare not tread, and where you can be confident your vacation investment will yield sand and sun, not soggy umbrellas.

All inclusive discount destinations are not much fun in Hurricane season. Choosing Puerto Rico is saying "Yes" to a vacation filled with sunshine, saying "Yes" to having your expectations surpassed, and saying "No" to the risks of vacation-saddening tropical storms and Hurricanes who love to visit many of the "other" Caribbean destinations.

Call 1-888-YES-2-SUN

Maybe I have been watching too many John McCain attack ads. However, Puerto Rico, is at a disadvantage competitively in the region. Those same all-inclusives I deflated above, are really what can help to spread the wealth all over the island, and allowing the market segment composed of middle to lower income families to become a bigger part of Puerto Rico's target demographic in tourism. They have credit cards too you know. Regardless of the level of disposal income the potential future Caribbean tourists have to spend, they definitely do NOT want a wet, windy, or cool vacation.

So Puerto Rico actually has a differentiating factor courtesy of the tropical storm and hurricane track that likes to divert either to the right (into the mid-Atlantic) or to the south deeper into the Gulf of Mexico. If you are worth your salt in Marketing you should be familiar with the phrase: Differentiate or Die.

All else being equal, Puerto Rico may propose greater weather stability and the best choice in the Caribbean for a sunny vacation. Granted, I've just isolated the variables. All else is NOT equal. And Americans and Canadians, and International tourists really enjoy choosing Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and many of the more southern lying islands... instead of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico? Isn't that the place where JLO comes from, and that chick with the squeaky voice in the movie White Men Can't Jump, and the skinny little rapper guy with the big glasses?

We could use weather stability in the ad copy. A good writer can craft that into a story, which can help supplement other marketing messages. However, those other factors should be taken care of first. When it comes to going to the Dominican Republic for an all-inclusive (with the risk of some bad weather) or paying through the nose in Puerto Rico, many families, couples, or groups of friends are going to save money, take the all inclusive, and take the risk.

So Puerto Rico - where are your all-inclusives? What other than a walk in Old San Juan or a walk up that steep hill to see the Arecibo observatory for 5 minutes, do you have for me? I can find great beaches anywhere in the Caribbean. Why should I give you my money?

Francisco Javier Cimadevilla of newspaper "Caribbean Business" wrote an editorial yesterday called "Catching the Plane", commenting on how declining numbers of flights to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan are impacting tourism in Puerto Rico. His premise is that American Airlines lead cut backs on service and government policy to "spur development" of airports in Ponce & Aguadilla is having an impact on winter tourism.

First of all, I understand that having San Juan a a hub is positive for the island. However, having Aguadilla and Ponce also boosts tourism potential for other parts of the island. It does not all have to be focused just in San Juan area.

To make matters worse, the government’s policy to spur the development of Aguadilla and Ponce as main airports with nonstop service to U.S. mainland markets—instead of regional airports feeding off traffic coming through San Juan—although perhaps well-intentioned, has hurt SJU’s viability as a major hub by taking away passenger traffic.

You see a lot of surf boards landing in the Aguadilla airport, headed for Rincon which is actually one of the much better tourism niches for the island. It is not quite a great sell to have tourists land in San Juan and then try to convince them to check out the Cabo Rojo lighthouse or other great west coast destinations when they have to navigate Puerto Rico's sub-standard highways and roads to get there 2 to 3 hours later (or more after getting lost).

The most on target part of Francisco's article is when he points the blame back at Puerto Rico tourism:

The development of more hotel rooms and an improved overall tourism product are a must. The private-sector components of our tourism industry shouldn’t rely on the government doing it all alone.

This is NOT an airline created problem. This is a Puerto Rico tourism supply and demand problem.

If there is not enough demand (i.e. incoming tourists to Puerto Rico) why is American Airlines going to keep burning fuel to get here with planes with too many empty seats? I bet you one of the 15 finalists in the Enterprise PR 2008 business plan competition can answer that, if Puerto Rican tourism leaders/operators cannot.

When an actual tourism market really is fostered here, the airlines will jump to action and boost inbound flights. I could say: "If you build it, they will come". How about:

If you boost it, they will come.

The Insider