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3 March 21, 2016
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Report Series to Highlight Tourism
as Key Driver of Economic Recovery
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By MARIA MIRANDA SIERRA
mirnadasanjuanstar@gmail.com
The non-profit Foundation for Puerto Rico
recently introduced the inaugural publication
of “A Visitor’s Economy: From
Knowledge to Action,” a guide to the island’s
economic development based on tourism.
Foundation for Puerto Rico Board President
Jon Borshow and Analysis and Investigation
Director Arnaldo Cruz said it is the first of
many investigative efforts by the foundation in
favor of the economic development of island
tourism.
“At the foundation we are contributing
with knowledge in order to provide continuity
to existing efforts and support the development
of the tourism sector, in this case offering a point
of reference on where we are and where we
should be heading so the sector can grow,” Borshow
said. “Tourism represents for Puerto Rico
the biggest opportunity for economic growth in
the short and medium term. Tourism is an important
part of the local economy and the only
one that is growing.
“If it is considered a top priority … then as
an economic strategy it can sustain accelerated
growth that will change the island’s economic
trajectory.”
The document, available on the foundation’s
webpage, http://foundationforpuertorico.org,
establishes a frame of reference for the
tourism industry. It defines the current status of
the industry, while also explaining the course of
action it must follow to become the economic
development tool that could boost the Puerto
Rican economy, Borschow added.
The tourism industry currently represents
6 percent of the island’s gross national product
(GNP), which is equivalent to a direct income of
$2.4 billion, according to data published by the
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in
2014. However, when you add indirect contributions,
the estimates from the WTTC establish that
the tourism industry in Puerto Rico generates
some $7.4 billion, or 10.7 percent of the GNP.
The report, which will be published every
three months, suggests that direct contributions
from tourism investments were responsible for
the creation of 67,000 jobs in 2014.
Borschow said that if a joint plan for economic
development to mobilize this sector is put
into action, those $7.4 billion could be doubled
in about five years.
“And if that were the case, we wouldn’t be
talking about a financial crisis today,” he noted.
“There are important distinctions explained
in the document that are fundamental
to correctly classifying tourism activities and
measuring the contribution that tourism makes
to the economy; data collection has been the biggest
challenge we have faced during the study,”
Cruz said, offering his point of view as the foundation’s
analyst and investigator.
The report establishes the current state of
the industry, based on data from world organizations
such as the WTTC, and from information
provided by local agencies such as the Puerto
Rico Tourism Co. (PRTC) and the Puerto Rico
Planning Board, as well as the 2012 Visitors’
Jon Borshow
Continues on page 4