With its state-of-the-art convention center opening in late 2005, Puerto Rico is riding atop a wave of unprecedented growth and development aimed at transforming the tropical Island into a meetings powerhouse.

“Puerto Rico has the exotic flavor conventioneers want,” says Ana Maria Viscasillas, acting executive director, Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, marketing and sales agent for the Island’s new Convention Center. “At the same time, San Juan is easy to get to, with more than 600 non-stop flights arriving weekly. Our location gives us the great advantage of attracting groups throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.”

By any measure – direct flights, new convention center, rising hotel inventory, advanced technology, telecommunications and more – Puerto Rico is known, not only for its natural beauty, but also as a leading destination for group business. During the second half of 2003, the U.S. Commonwealth Island saw a 36 percent upsurge in the number of groups visiting to attend meetings and conventions. “Some 30 percent of our hotel traffic is for business meetings,” Viscasillas says. “When our new Convention Center opens, Puerto Rico will become the meetings hub of the Americas.”

Technologically Advanced

At 580,000 sq. ft. (53,882 sq. m.), the Puerto Rico Convention Center will be the largest convention center in the Caribbean. The state-of-the-art facility will accommodate groups of 2,500 to 10,000 attendees, enabling Puerto Rico to pursue 83 percent of the conventions held now in the U.S. The new Convention Center will house a 152,700 sq. ft. (14,186 sq. m.) Exhibition Hall and 36,200 sq. ft. (3,363 sq. m.) of high-tech meeting space in 12 rooms (25 breakout rooms) on two levels. Spanning 39,500 sq. ft. (3,670 sq. m.) the Ballroom will be the largest in the Caribbean.

With its capacity for wireless communication, video conferencing and broadband, the facility will be the most technologically advanced convention center in Latin America and the Caribbean. “We will be able to serve groups with increasingly sophisticated needs,” Viscasillas says. “Conventioneers here will enjoy such high-tech amenities as satellite up-links and down-links, connections for in-house broadcasting and built-in support for portable laser projection and simultaneous translation.”

Hotel Building Boom

Puerto Rico is adding 3,000 hotel rooms toward the opening of its new Convention Center, bringing the island’s total room count within the next two years to more than 15,000. Approximately 25 projects have been announced or are under construction. New hotels, renovations and expansions provide meeting planners with an unprecedented range of choices, from budget to luxury, when booking groups in Puerto Rico.

Highlights include a full-service, anchor hotel next to the new Convention Center. Selection will be made this month from among three finalists – Marriott, Hyatt and Starwood, under the Sheraton flag. Other major developments on Puerto Rico’s northeast coast include the 490-room Paradisus Puerto Rico Beach and Golf Resort opening in March, 2004. As the Island’s first all-inclusive offering, the property is positioning itself as one of the Caribbean’s premier resorts. In a twin redevelopment project in the Condado hotel and tourist district near the Puerto Rico Convention Center, the luxury Condado Vanderbilt Hotel and the value-priced La Concha Hotel will add a total of 686 rooms when they open in late 2004. Also close to the the new Convention Center, the Caribe Hilton Hotel is adding a casino and 264 rooms this year, raising its total room count to 900.

Press Relations Office:

Name of PR firm: YPB&R

Account manager: Kathy Hernandez

Telephone no.: (407) 875-1111

E-mail address: kathy_hernandez@ypbr.com

Further information LACIME 2004: