RECOVERY PLAN

MMGY NextFactor led the creation of an emergency recovery plan for Puerto Rico after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria.

Background

In 2017, Puerto Rico sustained severe damage when a Category 4 hurricane hit the island. Much of the island’s infrastructure was destroyed and the visitor economy which is so critical to the community was in peril.

Approach

We were approached in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane to work with industry, community and government leaders to create an emergency recovery plan. We pulled together a team of experts from across the industry, including John Lambeth of Civitas, and Peter Yesawich of MMGY Global to provide background research and strategies on recovery. Stakeholder groups were developed, consulted and assigned to prepare plans for three critical areas: sales & marketing; destination development; and partnerships & collaboration.

Results

The Recovery Plan was developed, which included several key initiatives, including gathering objective research and intelligence on the state of the industry and recovery efforts; and developing and implementing a coordinated and phased communication strategy.

Three months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, the island declared itself open for tourism. Under the leadership of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, a governmental organization, they embarked on a campaign to encourage vacationers.

In the following year, Discover Puerto Rico, a new DMO, was created. NextFactor led planning to establish the new DMO, and also to prepare its first strategic plan and annual business & marketing plan.

In 2019, lodging demand had nearly recovered to pre-Maria levels with ADR achieving its highest level ever.