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Covid-19 Worse for Puerto Rico Tourism Than Maria, Official Says

Covid-19 Worse for Puerto Rico Tourism Than Maria, Official Says

How bad has the Covid-19 crisis been for Puerto Rico’s tourism industry? Worse than Hurricane Maria, the 2017 monster storm that was seen as a once-in-a-generation disaster, according to one top official.

“Covid will likely have three times the impact on the local tourism industry than Hurricane Maria had,” said Brad Dean, the chief executive officer of Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s tourism promotion agency. “That was unimaginable six months ago, but those are the circumstances we face today.”

Before the coronavirus decimated global travel, tourism was a small but growing piece of Puerto Rico’s economy. It was also seen as one of the key motors to pulling the U.S. commonwealth out of a deep recession and a historic bankruptcy.

For the first few months of 2020, the island of 3.2 million people was on track to have its best tourism season in a decade, Dean said in a telephone interview.

But since the virus was first detected on the island in mid-March –- triggering a series of broad lockdowns on bars, beaches, businesses and other attractions –- the industry has been hammered.

Hotel occupancy is running 20% to 30% of normal and July air traffic was down 62% versus a year ago. Thirteen air-routes onto and off the island have either been scaled back or cut entirely.

The streets of Old San Juan -- usually crawling with cruise ship passengers -- are feeling sleepy.

“During the first week of August we welcomed 32,000 passengers, which is just a fraction of what we would be seeing this time of year,” Dean said.

And yet, Puerto Rico has some clear advantages.

Almost every country and territory in the Caribbean has barred international visitors, particularly Americans. That has made Puerto Rico -- a U.S. commonwealth and therefore a domestic destination -- one of the few tropical paradises that vacation-starved mainlanders can still visit.

For those who had to cancel trips to Europe and South America due to Covid-19, Puerto Rico provides most Americans “the international flair and allure of visiting other cultures” without using a passport, Dean said.

With more than 30,600 confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus, and 390 deaths due to Covid-19, the island has taken some of the most forceful steps of any U.S. jurisdiction to stop the outbreak.

Residents are required to wear masks in public. There’s a curfew in place, a ban on public gatherings and a mandatory 24-hour lockdown on Sundays. Arriving passengers are required to prove they’re Covid-free or quarantine for 14 days.

Those measures make visiting a drag but might eventually bring dividends, Dean said.

Serious Covid-19 controls “are the price of admission for meetings and conventions now, as meeting planners have to look out for the health safety of their attendees,” Dean said.

For the moment, however, Dean says his job is to make sure that visitors know the local rules and can be part of the solution.

“The priority right now is to win the battle against Covid,” he said, “and then the next battle is the economic recovery that lies ahead.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.