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Government of Puerto Rico Pledges Commitment to Safeguard Air Access to Caribbean

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

June 24, 2008

thomas

Under ‘One Caribbean’ Banner, Governor of Puerto Rico Introduces Measures
to Sustain Air Access to the Caribbean and a Multi-Million Dollar
Investment Incentive Plan to Support Maritime Access to the Region

WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Honorable Anibal
Acevedo Vila, Governor of Puerto Rico, addressed media and delegates at the
first Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit (ACTS) in Washington, DC, today to
present a plan that will preserve air access to Puerto Rico and other
islands in the Caribbean. The Governor also introduced a Cruise Incentives
Law that will continue to provide incentives to the maritime service
providers who safeguard existing routes and/or expand their operations to
the region.

The Governor provided an update on a call to action issued by Puerto
Rico to Caribbean nations to form a united front that will work with the
airline industry to increase access to the Caribbean through the island, a
bold move given the specter of the industry. As a result of these efforts,
airlines such as Jet Blue, Air Tran, Continental and Delta have added
service to Puerto Rico from cities like New York, Boston, Newark, Orlando
and Ft. Lauderdale, among others.

Rising fuel costs had forced some airlines to cancel flights to the
region, a decision that stands to cripple the hotel and cruise industries
operating in the Caribbean.

“The gravity of the economic crisis facing the airline industry, and
business in general, is especially felt in the Caribbean, a region that has
benefited immensely from tourism,” said Terestella Gonzalez Denton,
Executive Director, PRTC. “In conjunction with Governor Acevedo Vila and
our partners in the Caribbean Trade Organization, we are working hard to
preserve air access to the region which is the backbone to our region’s
hotel and cruise industries.”

The Governor also announced the passing of a Law to expand his
administration’s Cruise Incentive Program, which allocates a yearly $10
million fund for the development of Puerto Rico’s maritime industry.
Coupled with a $300 million effort to modernize the island’s port
infrastructure, the initiative resulted in an 8.4 percent increase in
travel to Puerto Rico over the last two years.

“I am very happy to announce that we’ve just signed a Law that extends
our Cruise Incentive Program throughout 2010-2011,” said the Governor.
“Even more important, this decree determines that on the eventuality that
we manage a 20% increase by June 30, 2011, these incentives will
automatically be extended to June 30, 2014.”

The Governor’s address ended with an exhortation to the delegates at
ACTS to work together on issues of air and sea access in the region.

“I’ve instructed the Puerto Rico Tourism Company to work together with
the Caribbean Tourism Organization in the next few weeks, to face the
connectivity issues resulting from the opening of new flights to the Island
and what this means to passengers looking to have a multi-destination
experience. Furthermore, we invite CTO to have a proactive discussion on
how we can raise interest in our region to develop new maritime access
alternatives and create new maritime routes to the Caribbean, using our
Incentive Program as the basis for deploying innovative tactics.”

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