Puerto Rico Tourism: A struggle for identity: What are we selling?

3. Puerto Rico Tourism: A struggle for identity: What are we selling?
By Evelyn Guadalupe-Fajardo of Caribbean Business
http://www.puertoricowow.com - June 13, 2002

The Puerto Rico Tourism Co. has spent some $570.7 million over the past
17 years on marketing campaigns to double the number of tourists
visiting the island, a CARIBBEAN BUSINESS investigation revealed.

While the number of tourists and expenditures doubled during the period,
the Tourism Co. marketing budget nearly tripled.

This raises serious questions about whether the Tourism Co., the
government agency in charge of the island’s marketing and promotional
campaigns, has received an
acceptable return on the investment of more than half a billion dollars
in taxpayers’ money (adjusted for inflation).

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS found that in 1985, for every $1 million invested in
marketing, the destination generated $72 million in tourist
expenditures. In 2001,
every $1 million invested in marketing generated only $65 million in
tourist expenditures. This 23.6% decrease is evidence of a marketing
problem.

Based on success rates achieved for marketing efforts in the late 1980s,
if that trend had continued, the amount of money invested in marketing
in 2001 should have
attracted 4.6 million tourists for an economic impact of $3.4 billion in
visitor expenditures.

At a time when uniqueness is prized as one of the leading tourist
attractions, experts suggest that Puerto Rico continues to struggle with
its identity.

In the past 17 years, the island has changed its marketing strategy four
times. Do you remember?:

Puerto Rico: The Shining Star of the Caribbean
Discover the Continent of Puerto Rico: So Much Within Your Reach
Sounds of Puerto Rico: Only Puerto Rico Puts It All Within Your
Reach--Puerto Rico USA
You’re Not Dreaming, You’re in Puerto Rico

Beginning in fiscal year 1985, while the island was promoted as the
“Shining Star of the Caribbean,” the marketing budget increased 20% for
a 38% jump in the
number of tourists and a 30% increase in visitor expenditures over a
four-year period. In the next four-year period, with the same campaign,
the marketing budget
increased 18% for a 9% tourist increase and a 4% increase in visitor
expenditures. The diminished increases can be partly attributed to
Hurricane Hugo in 1989,
when marketing efforts were required for damage control of the island’s
image.

In fiscal ’92, the Tourism Co. adopted the “Discover the Continent”
marketing campaign. Over the four-year period through ’96, there was a
4% increase in budget
and the number of tourists increased 7%, accompanied by a 7% increase in
visitor expenditures. In January of 1994, San Juan endured an
environmental disaster in
the form of a major oil spill, another damage control issue.

“Sounds of Puerto Rico” began to be used as the marketing campaign in
fiscal ‘97. In the period to 2000, the marketing budget increased 16%.
Hurricane Georges
struck in September of 1998 and the lingering image of the natural
disaster reduced the number of tourists to a 3% increase with a 9%
increase in visitor
expenditures.

Local, national, and internationally known experts say the problem is
that the Tourism Co.’s marketing campaigns convey a blurry image to
prospective travelers.

“We found that most tourist destinations are trying to do too much with
their branding approach; it’s either too big or too big in scope,” said
Al Ries, marketing
consultant at Ries & Ries Focusing Consultants in Atlanta. “For example,
the slogan ‘You’re Not Dreaming, You’re in Puerto Rico’ can represent
any destination if
you drop the word Puerto Rico. There is no way anyone will associate the
idea with Puerto Rico.”

Milton Segarra, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co.,
indicated, however, that branding and people’s perception of the island
are of utmost
importance to the agency.

“The campaigns currently running locally (Ven, celebra tu isla) and in
the U.S., ‘You’re Not Dreaming,’ solidify all the attributes that Puerto
Rico has as a brand
name,” Segarra said. “It is true that constant fluctuations always
affect any product.”

The textbook description of a brand is “a distinguishing name and / or
symbol” that gives an identity to the goods or services being offered
and distinguishes it from
the competitors. It is this distinction that helps consumers make
choices in a cluttered market.

“We have been the ‘Shining Star,’ the ‘Continent,’ ‘Sounds of Puerto
Rico,’ and now ‘You’re Not Dreaming, You’re in Puerto Rico.’ It’s time
we developed a
slogan that can transcend political parties and, for that matter,
executive directors,” said Rick Newman, president of the Puerto Rico
Hotel & Tourism Association.

According to Ries, Puerto Rico’s slogan is too general and therefore
doesn’t register in the mind of the consumer.

“Why not forget about positioning Puerto Rico as a whole? Why not focus
on just positioning the city of San Juan? If the Tourism Co. can make
Americans long to
go to San Juan, when they arrive they will explore the entire island,”
said Ries, who has done marketing consulting for the destinations of
Belgium and Jamaica.

Puerto Rico isn’t the only one having difficulty. Ries doesn’t believe
any Caribbean island is doing a good job of positioning itself, which
definitely creates an
opportunity for Puerto Rico.

“Most people can’t associate a strong idea with any Caribbean island,”
Ries said. “The notion to do something long-term calls for a destination
to come up with
some kind of publicity stunt.”

Ries suggested that San Juan reenact an event that emphasizes its
historic value. “Forget about positioning Puerto Rico,” Ries reiterated,
“and just narrow the focus
with something symbolic to the island.”

Consistency is key. A good marketing program--with a single
theme--should run for decades.

“Effective marketing is essential today. In the 1990s, branding started
to be practical in tourism,” said Alastair Morrison, professor of
marketing & tourism at Purdue
University’s Hospitality & Tourism Research Center in Indiana. “Tourism
destinations are borrowing the branding idea from what it has learned
with products. Some
offshore foreign countries are more advanced when it comes to their
marketing,” he said.

In today’s cutthroat tourism industry, only destinations with clear
market positions and appealing attractions remain in consumers’ minds
when they book vacations.
Although travel agents suggest destinations, make the arrangements, and
provide support services, the choice of destination clearly is the
consumer’s.

The tourism industry is using branding as a means of emphasizing the
feel of a place and of developing its personality. The branded
destination becomes more than
just a place to go. It becomes an experience, one unlike any other.

This branding mentality has been observed in recent campaigns for
Australia, “Come and Say G’day”; New Zealand, “100% Pure New Zealand”;
Montana, “Big
Sky Country,” and Texas, “It’s a Whole Other Country.”

The key to building a brand is to identify what it stands for then to
effectively deliver that message. While this is difficult in today’s
marketplace, it isn’t impossible.

In fiscal 2001, the Tourism Co. invested $48.6 million in marketing
strategies that most agree haven’t defined the island’s image.

“When we worked in Jamaica, which has the largest mountain range in the
Caribbean, we felt it was geographically kind of like Hawaii,” Ries
said. “We tried to get
Jamaica to position itself as the Hawaii of the Caribbean, because the
place to start is with the mind of the prospect, and most people know
Hawaii.”

Slogans are slogans
Most destinations constantly change their slogans. To be successful,
however, experts say a destination must stick with one slogan.

Take New York and Virginia, for example. They’ve used the “I Love New
York” and “Virginia is for Lovers” slogans, respectively, for 30 years.

“Those two states have stuck with their slogans and positioned
themselves with an image they wanted to create,” Morrison said.

Other destinations with clear market positions include Paris, known to
consumers as the “City of Lights”; New York City, which for three
decades has been
positioned as “The Big Apple”; Rome, the “Eternal City,” and Minnesota,
which is said to be the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

Puerto Rico’s slogan, on the other hand, has changed on average every
four years. The “Shining Star of the Caribbean” campaign was revamped
several times but
ran for seven years, from 1985 to 1995, under Gov. Rafael Hernandez
Colon’s administration.

As soon as the government changed, however, so did the campaign.

Pedro Rossello’s administration used the “Continent of Puerto Rico” from
1992 to 1996, then changed it to the “Sounds of Puerto Rico,” which ran
from 1997 to
2000.

“A brand needs to stay; to change it is a terrible mistake because a
destination begins to lose its identity,” said Vincent
Vanderpool-Wallace, director general of the
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. “Making dramatic changes causes the brand
to become unfamiliar to consumers, which is a waste of marketing
dollars.”

Puerto Rico was without a marketing campaign from November 2000 to
October 2001, because of the transition between administrations and the
petty political
warfare that left the Tourism Co. without a confirmed executive director
for that period.

It wasn’t until October 2001, one month after the events of Sept. 11,
that the Tourism Co., under Milton Segarra’s leadership, unveiled the
“You’re Not Dreaming,
You’re in Puerto Rico” campaign.

The battle for customers will be fought over hearts, not price
What differentiates a Caribbean or Mediterranean island from its nearest
neighbor? It’s rarely sun and sand.

Experts say tourists visit, and revisit one place instead of another if
they can empathize with its people and its values. The battle for
customers in tomorrow’s
destination marketplace won’t be fought over price but over hearts and
minds--and this is why the tourism industry must rely on branding.

“There has been no branding continuity in Puerto Rico. People don’t get
what Puerto Rico is; those who do, know that the island is more than
just sun, sand, and
surf,” Morrison said. “Puerto Rico hasn’t been effectively positioned.
In my opinion, Costa Rica and Dominica have done a good job of
positioning themselves as
ecotourism-based destinations. The U.S. Virgin Islands also has done
well with its ‘America’s Caribbean’ slogan. It has been effective, and
they have been sticking
to it.”

In short, Morrison believes the key for a destination is to find its
brand essence and then to come up with a positioning statement. The
slogan is the last part.

According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), there is a clear
contemporary trend toward highly branded destinations.

The WTO predicts that the next century will mark the emergence of
tourism destinations as a fashion accessory. The choice of vacation
destination will help define
the identity of travelers and set them apart from the hordes of other
tourists.

Leisure travel is often an involved experience; it’s extensively
planned, excitedly anticipated, and fondly remembered. Tapping into the
power of such emotional
appeal, tourism destination brands are beginning to reach beyond the
tourism industry. Many of the brands at the leading edge of destination
marketing are seeking
to position themselves as place brands, whereby whole countries, states,
and regions are embarking on brand-building initiatives that are
inclusive of tourism and
economic development.

The need to develop a clear identity based on reality
Most tourism destinations have five-star resorts, hotels, and
attractions. Every country claims to have a unique culture and heritage.
Each place claims to have the
friendliest and most customer-focused population. Nowadays, hotel
properties are no longer distinguishing factors.

Given this extremely competitive tourism environment, marketing experts
say destinations must develop a clear identity, or brand, based on
reality while reflecting
their core strengths and their personality.

For example, London-based Locum Destination Consulting, Europe’s leading
destination consultancy firm, was hired to design an integrated national
destination
strategy for Poland. The company created five Polska brands, each
targeting Poland’s most competitive and most distinctive tourism
offerings to its various markets.

“The strategy created for Destination Poland included the tailoring of
destination products to suit different consumer expectations in
different target markets,”
explained Richard Tibbott, CEO of Locum Destination Consulting. “The
current phase of development of Poland’s tourism economy is based on its
world-class
natural assets, such as endless forests and wilderness, High Tatras
Mountains, and the Masurian Lake District. Our team forged a framework
for the development of
high quality, ecologically sustainable, and culturally authentic Polish
rural tourism.”

Building and maintaining brand value in a crowded marketplace is
essential to business success. As a result, brand management is quickly
shifting from a peripheral
marketing concern to the core business strategy.

The P (politics) factor
“Politics is the single greatest barrier for creating brand equity,”
said Bill Siegel, CEO of Toronto-based Longwoods International, which
specializes in research
strategy, branding, and return on investment. “I worked with one major
state that has gone through four slogans in the past 10 years.”

Longwoods developed Canada’s “World Next Door” slogan, which ran for 10
years and won at least 90 awards. The company also changed Hawaii’s
slogan from
“The Most Beautiful Islands in the World” to “Hawaiian Islands of
Aloha,” which has been running for seven years.

Tourism, for the most part, is seen as the vehicle for smaller
communities to contribute to their destination’s sense of identity and
as a source of economic viability. It
understandably then attracts the interest of government, and indeed,
representatives of the industry have political agendas.

There are four reasons, experts say, for government intervention in
tourism: the complexity of the tourist product, its institutional
structure, guardianship of the
resource base, and market failure. That these reasons are often accepted
implies the government has wider legitimacy.

Others allege that any rationalization of public sector management is
based upon five general principles: public interest, public service,
effectiveness, efficiency, and
accountability.

It is difficult to determine, however, what is in the public’s interest,
and there may well be shifts in consensus or interpretation over time.

“The tourism industry in Puerto Rico is a big part of the economy. While
it is accepted that many politicians have experience in the sector,
politicians need to
understand that Puerto Rico as a tourism destination can’t speak to the
world directly; it needs travel partners who can get the message
across,” said Tibbott.

“Politicians must also understand that the tourism agencies have long
lead times,” he added, “and investments in destination brand
propositions need to be recovered
over a number of years. They simply can’t feature over-engineered brands
that have ever-changing images, tag lines, or concepts. Destination
brands need real
investment if they are to have longevity. It is the job of the
politician to secure consensus and adequate investment in the branding
of destinations. Then they should
leave the specifics to the professionals.”

One of the trends Siegel sees is the privatization of more entities, a
positive shift that removes government from tourism, where political
pressures are the strongest.

“When you have a campaign for a long period of time, it creates demand
and a return on investment. That’s the wave of the future,” Siegel said.

When asked if any Caribbean destination campaign sticks out, Siegel
responded, “I’m still waiting to see a consistent campaign in the
Caribbean.

“It’s difficult nowadays to keep track of who is doing what. Everybody
is now trying to jump on to the ecotourism bandwagon. A destination must
first identify what
makes it unique and appealing, because there are a lot of beach
destinations. That’s exactly what we did for Hawaii. We studied the
culture, the people, and the
Aloha spirit, which differentiated the destination from Mexico and the
Caribbean islands,” Siegel concluded.
Received on Thu Jul 4 15:07:42 2002