Star

4 Monday, March 21, 2016 The San Juan Daily Star
From page 3
Polls, a study that was recently made
public and is expected to turn into a
yearly field research study starting
sometime this July.
Economist Gustavo Vélez also believes
the tourism industry has great
potential, and agrees with Borschow
that the sector is in fact growing.
In a separate interview with the
STAR, Vélez said the tourism industry
is one of the economic sectors exhibiting
the most potential even under
the unfavorable current economic
circumstances.
“Even within the contraction
process, the tourism sector is one of
the few industries showing a gradual
recovery,” Vélez said. “While the
rest of the economy remains in recession,
the tourism industry showed a
slight rebound in 2014, when the total
number of visitors increased by 1
percent.”
Vélez noted that the arrival of
tourists staying in hotels declined between
2007 and 2010, affected mainly
by the financial and economic crisis
in the U.S.
Yet, as the U.S. economy began to
recover, the arrival of tourists gradually
began to improve between 2011
and 2013. At that point, the arrival of
tourists staying in hotels increased
from 1,408,000 to 1,596,000, a net increase
of 188,000 tourists.
“Recognizing the potential of
this sector, the government and the
tourism industry must work in a coordinated
manner to strengthen the
competitiveness of this industry, improve
the quality of the product and
expand the number of hotels and
rooms inventory,” Vélez said.
The local economist noted that
strengthening the tourism industry
must be based on the diversification
of the offer, integrating new offerings
such as health tourism, sports
tourism, and cultural tourism. At the
same time, Puerto Rico must explore
other markets such as Latin America,
Asia and Europe to promote the arrival
of new tourists beyond the traditional
segment that visits from the
mainland U.S. east coast.
Vélez said that in order to maximize
tourism potential, it is essential
to improve air access, encourage private
investment in new hotels, develop
a destination brand and improve
the quality of the product, or the tourism
experience.
“From the point of view of the
creation of new economic activities,
tourism has a high multiplier effect
on job creation, income and production,
which is favorable for the purpose
of the recovery of the economy,”
Vélez added. “The government and
the private sector must set as a goal
the creation of 20,000 additional
rooms between 2016 and 2020 in order
to become a relevant player in the
region.”
He also said the Department of
Economic Development and Commerce
recently announced a plan
to promote the development of the
medical tourism industry, seeking to
capitalize on the advantages of offering
health services in the context of
the island’s tourism offerings. The
plan aims to attract visitors from
other countries in the region, particularly
from Central America and the
Caribbean.
“Health institutions located on
the island offer services of equal or
better quality at more affordable prices
than those in the U.S., and at the
same time those visitors can experience
a vacation on the island,” Vélez
noted.
Currently, some groups of hospitals
are working in a coordinated
fashion with hotels in a combined effort
to develop unique offers.
“This type of initiative represents
a step in the right direction,
and exemplifies the innovation that
businesses and industries must carry
out to strengthen their competitive
advantages in an emerging sector,”
Vélez said. “The very vitality of the
health industry provides an advantage
to continue growing; however,
the biggest challenge is to be able to
face a possible scenario of reduced
federal funding.”
Companies in the island health
industry will have to rethink their
business models in order to continue
diversifying their offerings and remain
profitable, he noted. The aging
of the population will be a critical factor
in the development of this industry,
Vélez said.
“Similarly, the academic world
and the private sector should work
in an orderly fashion to ensure a better
alignment of educational offerings
and the needs of the industry,” the
economist said. “Meanwhile the export
of services issue will be another
crucial element for the growth of the
industry in the long term.”