The St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association hopes to recapture the Puerto Rican traveler with a four-color brochure featuring hotels on all three islands and Cape Air, the inter-island airline.
The promotional brochure, created by the Hotel Association, will be sent to 500 to hundred agencies. It will also be available to key tour operators.
Richard Doumeng, president of the Hotel Association said, "For years we have not been capturing vacationers from Puerto Rico. We have lost this business to the Dominican Republic, Barbados and other Caribbean islands. It's critical that we recapture this market that was not just good for hotels, but for taxi cabs, retailers and restaurateurs."
Doumeng told Radio One news that Puerto Ricans traditionally travel between April and November — a time that the Virgin Islands considers "off season."
Executive Director Beverly Nicholson said it is important to get the word out that we want vacationers from Puerto Rico.