The World Travel & Tourism Council has moved its annual Global Summit to Cancun, Mexico.
The body had earlier unveiled plans to host the event in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The mission of the WTTC is to promote sustainable growth for the tourism sector globally, so the organisation “has decided to change the location of the Global Summit given what is best for Puerto Rico at this time”.
The financial resources that had been set aside for the event will instead be focused on impactful, consumer-facing campaigns, a statement added.
Money will also be spent on marketing efforts that strongly promote Puerto Rico’s “open for tourism” message and drive immediate visitor numbers to the Island.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC president, said: “WTTC remains strongly committed to supporting Puerto Rico’s amazing comeback story as seen in their record-breaking year in tourism last year.
“Although the Island was ready to welcome us with open arms this April, despite the recent seismic activity in the southern region, reallocating resources to continue this great momentum is the right thing to do in order to further boost tourism.
“We are looking forward to hosting an event in Puerto Rico later this year.”
The WTTC Global Summit will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from April 21st-23rd, with the dates for the upcoming official WTTC event in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to be announced in the near future.
“This switch to Cancun will enable us to host a Global Summit focused on the opportunities and challenges facing our sector in 2020 and beyond, which will help to grow tourism further.
“The 20th Global Summit will benefit and showcase not only Mexico, but the wider regions of the US, Latin America and the Caribbean,” concluded Guevara.
