No passport required for U.S. travelers, an average temperature of 82 degrees year-round and the U.S. dollar as the currency. One can confidently declare that Puerto Rico offers a pleasant climate for meetings and conventions.
Despite an ongoing debt crisis facing the U.S. territory, in which its Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla requested the U.S. Senate allow access to the same Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection that U.S. cities and states have to avoid cutting basic services, meetings business traveling to the island is far from slowing down, according to Meet Puerto Rico.
As far as the meetings market goes, “July through September has been the best quarter in the last six years,” says Milton Segarra, president and CEO of Meet Puerto Rico.
The tourism promotion bureau recently laid out its two-year innovation and strategic plan, which includes partnering with local organizations focused on economic development and impact.
A Place to Convene
The Puerto Rico Convention Center, which really put the island on the map for conventions and citywide events, recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Located in San Juan on the Isle Grande peninsula, with 600,000 total square feet of space, it is the largest convention center in the Caribbean. The 39,551-square-foot ballroom can be divided into two and accommodate more than 3,900 people.
“The Puerto Rico Convention Center is truly a multiuse facility where we host everything from citywide conventions to sporting events, graduations, concerts, tradeshows, social events and more,” says Margaret Colon, director of sales and marketing for the convention center.
The exhibit hall, located on the first floor, offers 157,700 square feet of space, can hold over 16,500 people and features a mezzanine suite overlook.
Artwork in the halls and prefunction areas is eye-catching and uniquely Puerto Rican. The center partnered with local galleries to feature art pieces, many of which were made specifically for the center’s spaces, and are for sale. The center has also carved out—literally, under stairwells and in spaces previously used for pay-phone booths—food and beverage concessions where people can gather for meetings, or use as a place to get work done in between sessions.
With the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino and Hyatt House San Juan already in place, the Convention Center District is expanding and becoming a destination of its own. Taking a cue from Los Angeles’ L.A. Live, the district is continuing to grow as an area for both business travelers, tourists and locals. A project, the Paseo de Puerta de Tierra, is under way to connect the convention center with Old San Juan via a boardwalk, and would give pedestrians and cyclists a safer and easier way to access the district.
“The Convention Center District is undergoing new developments, and new offerings will be available very soon,” Colon says. “More hotels, an entertainment District Live area that includes restaurants and other entertainment options, and multiuse office buildings will soon join the 113 acres of land surrounding the Puerto Rico Convention Center.”
Teambuilding
From eco-tours, adventure outings, historical and cultural experiences to food and drink—after all, the pina colada was first created here—Puerto Rico really does offer something for everyone.
Group Services, Inc. (GSI), a San Juan-based DMC, specializes in giving attendees the true Puerto Rican flavor of the people and the natural beauty through its outdoor tours and adventures. Hiking El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. National Forest System, which encompass over 28,000 acres of land, is one popular group activity. Kayaking in one of the island’s bioluminescent lagoons or taking a catamaran or sailboat ride to get the best views of Old San Juan and the Castillo San Felipe del Morro fortress are other options GSI offers.
Locally-based Innovation DMC has created a wide variety of teambuilding programs, many that use physical and intellectual challenges while keeping the focus on the island and culture. The company’s Amazing Race event has groups divided into teams, armed with just a map, and the challenge of completing obstacles throughout Old San Juan.
For groups interested in the local food, the DMC can put together a Food Truck Fest, bringing local food trucks and kiosks to a venue of choice. Innovation also recognizes that many groups like to incorporate social corporate responsibility into their programs and can work with local organizations to arrange an activity to give back. One group recently gave its time and labor to help rebuild a public school in Loiza, a small town. The school and community cheered on the participants and an impromptu salsa lesson even broke out.
Pina Coladas and Bacardi
Back to the pina coladas. The origin of the cocktail depends on who you speak to in Puerto Rico. Two bartenders and their respective institutions claim ownership of the drink. One story is that it was created at the Caribe Hilton in 1954, while the other claim is that it was created in 1963 at the Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan. Both locations are still serving the famous drink and Barrachina has a separate space that can be used for private events or meals.
Another great place for a pina colada, or any other rum drink, is the Casa Bacardi distillery across the bay from Old San Juan. Bacardi was originally founded in 1862 in Cuba by Don Facundo Bacardi Masso and due to the conflict there, the distillery moved to Catano, outside San Juan in 1936. Now, the largest premium distillery in the world, Bacardi has on-site and available for groups a visitor’s center, a pavilion designed to look like a bat in reference to its iconic logo, and a restaurant.
There are also private tours and classes available, such as the Mixology Class, where attendees can learn about and mix their own Bacardi cocktails, including the Cuba Libre, mojito and daiquiri. The rum-tasting class offers a more serious look at the process of distilling and aging rum. Both classes can hold up to 25, but larger groups can arrange for a demonstration, lecture or tasting in other spaces at the distillery.
