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Lebawit Lily Girma | (TNS) Bloomberg News When winter rolls around, travelers predictably turn their attention to beaches. And this year, it’s the destination that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” that’s experiencing outsize demand from Americans planning a warm island vacation. Talk about trashing stereotypes. Related Articles Would you pay $700 a night to sleep under the stars at this Colorado resort? Thailand’s starring role in ‘The White Lotus’ is about to pay off 5 under-the-radar travel destinations the UN says you should visit Gift ideas for people planning their next trip Lights and decor, réveillon meals make Christmastime special in New Orleans Puerto Rico has recovered overseas visitors (excluding those from Canada and Mexico) faster than any U.S. state or territory — a staggering 85% increase over its 2019 overseas inbound visitor levels as of 2023, according to an October study from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office. There are now more daily flights from the U.S. West Coast, and hotel bookings are 6% higher so far in this last quarter of 2024 year-over-year. It’s a trifecta of tourism growth: more visitors, but also longer stays and a higher spend that reached a record $9.8 billion in 2023, boosting small businesses as well as major brands. “We don’t have a slow season in Puerto Rico anymore,” says Brad Dean, chief executive officer at Discover Puerto Rico. Even if they’re not booking, people are dreaming about “La Isla.” By tracking flight searches for trips between November 2024 and February 2025, a measure of “inspirational” demand, tourism intelligence company Mabrian Technologies reports Puerto Rico is up 9% compared with the same period last year and leads Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas in the Caribbean proper. Only Costa Rica ranked higher in the wider region. Dean attributes Puerto Rico’s ongoing tourism growth to a strategic effort to reposition the island’s brand as more than a sun-and-sea destination, starting back in 2018. That led to the Live Boricua campaign, which began in 2022 and leaned heavily on culture, history and cuisine and was, Dean says, “a pretty bold departure” in the way Puerto Rico was showcased to travelers. He adds that at least $2 billion in tourism spend is linked to this campaign. “We (also) haven’t shied away from actively embracing the LGBTQ+ community, and that has opened up Puerto Rico to audiences that may not have considered the Caribbean before,” Dean says. Hotels are preparing to meet this growing demand: A number of established boutique properties are undergoing upgrades valued between $4 million and more than $50 million, including Hotel El Convento; La Concha, which will join the Marriott Autograph Collection; Condado Vanderbilt Hotel; and the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar. That’s in addition to ultra-chic options that are coming online in 2025, including the adults-only Alma San Juan, with rooms overlooking Plaza Colón in the heart of Old San Juan, and the five-star Veranó boutique hotel in San Juan’s trendy Santurce neighborhood. The beachfront Ritz-Carlton San Juan in Isla Verde will also be reopening seven years after Hurricane Maria decimated the island. The travel industry’s success is helping boost employment on the island, to the tune of 101,000 leisure and hospitality jobs as of September 2024, a 26% increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Efforts to promote Puerto Rico’s provinces beyond the San Juan metro area — such as surfing hub Rincón on the west coast, historical Ponce on the south coast and Orocovis for nature and coffee haciendas in the central mountains —have spread the demand to small businesses previously ignored by the travel industry. Take Sheila Osorio, who leads workshops on Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance at Taller Nzambi, in the town of Loíza, 15 miles east of San Juan; or Wanda Otero, founder of cheese-producing company Vaca Negra in Hatillo, an hour’s drive west of Old San Juan, where you can join a cheese-making workshop and indulge in artisanal cheese tastings. “The list of businesses involved in tourism has gone from 650 in 2018 to 6,100, many of which are artists and artisans,” Dean says. While New Yorkers and Miami residents have always been the largest visitor demographic, Dean says more mainland Americans now realize that going to Puerto Rico means passport-free travel to enjoy beaches, as well as opportunities to dine in Michelin-rated restaurants, hike the only rainforest in the U.S. and kayak in a bioluminescent bay. Visitors from Chicago and Dallas, for example, have increased by approximately 40% from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, compared with the same period in 2022-2023, and more travelers are expected from Denver now that United Airlines Holdings Inc. has kicked off its first nonstop service to San Juan, beginning on Oct. 29. Previously, beach destinations that were easy to reach on direct flights from Denver included Mexico, Belize and California, but now Puerto Rico joins that list with a 5.5-hour nonstop route that cuts more than two hours from the next-best option. Given United Airlines’ hub in San Francisco, it could mean more travelers from the Golden State in the near future, too. In December, U.S. airlines will have 3,000 more seats per day to the territory compared with the same period last year, for a total of 84,731 — surpassing even Mexico and the Dominican Republic in air capacity, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, the island’s primary gateway, is projecting a record volume of 13 million passengers by year’s end — far surpassing the 9.4 million it saw in 2019. As for Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” line, Dean says it was “a terribly insensitive attempt at humor” that transformed outrage into a marketing silver lining, with an outpouring of positive public sentiment and content on Puerto Rico all over social media. Success, as that old chestnut goes, may be the best revenge. “It was probably the most efficient influencer campaign we’ve ever had,” Dean says, “a groundswell of visitors who posted their photos and videos and said, ‘This is the Puerto Rico that I know.’” ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
While congratulating the Jharkhand voters for defeating the “politics of polarisation,” the Congress party termed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s defeat in Maharashtra Assembly elections ‘unexpected’ and called it a result of “targeted manipulation” by the BJP. The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that the victory in Jharkhand of the JMM-led alliance is one for the protection of the Constitution as well as of water, forest and land. “Heartfelt thanks to the people of Jharkhand for giving a huge mandate to INDIA. Hearty congratulations and best wishes to Chief Minister Hemant Sorenji, all the workers of the Congress and the JMM for this victory,” he wrote on X in Hindi. Election results 2024: Maharashtra | Jharkhand | Bypolls “The results of Maharashtra are unexpected and we will analyse those in detail,” Mr. Gandhi said as he thanked the voters of the State for their support and all the party workers for their hardwork. He also lauded his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for her victory in bypoll in Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. At a press conference in party headquarters, Congress General Secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh countered the Mahayuti leaders’ contention that the Opposition had floated a “fake narrative” in Lok Sabha elections which did not work for them in the Assembly polls. “Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the issues we raised during the Lok Sabha polls remain relevant and we shall continue to raise them,” he said. The Congress, he said, will continue to talk about economic inequalities, communal polarisation, caste census and need to defend the Constitution. He called the Maharashtra results as “very strange”. ANALYSIS | Ideology, welfare, and caste census: What do Maharashtra and Jharkhand results tell us about them Party’s chairman of Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said, “The Lok Sabha election was fought in the name of PM Narendra Modi in Maharashtra, the BJP lost it. The same State gives the same BJP 132 out of 148 seats within four to five months. What kind of strike rate is this? ...Is this strike rate possible? Democracy is our concern. Electoral transparency is our concern. Can the BJP reverse anti-incumbency?” Mr. Ramesh also rejected the contention that there were problems in the seat-sharing arrangement within the MVA. “The fact is that we had an alliance, there were differences which were resolved. We fought unitedly, but we were up against a machine which was manipulating on the ground, which had deliberately targeted seat after seat,” he said. Without mentioning any names, Mr. Ramesh said that several “non-entities” have won on BJP ticket in Maharashtra while several senior leaders of the three alliance partners in MVA have lost the polls. Published - November 23, 2024 09:58 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Maharashtra / Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 / Indian National Congress / Assembly Elections
Jason Mackey: Jason Mackey's sports chat transcript: 12.26.24Swifties don’t play around. New York City influencer Katelyn Sailor was elated when her husband Kyle took her on a surprise road trip Saturday to Toronto, where Taylor Swift was playing her final show at the Rogers Centre on her Eras Tour . But Katelyn had a bit of a social media meltdown over the fact that Kyle didn’t buy the pair concert tickets ahead of the show. At 2 p.m. in Toronto, Katelyn wrote on her Instagram Stories, “PS: we don’t have tickets,” and noted that Swift, 34, starts performing at 8 p.m. On one of her next IG Stories, she posted a screenshot of available tickets for the show which revealed the cheapest ticket was around $3,750 each. “The bad news? We STALKED tickets last weekend and they went way down day of, so we could get lower bowl seats for a deal. Today? THEY WENT UP. *starting to panic*,” Katelyn wrote. She then shared a text she sent to her mom, which read, “If your son in law took me to Toronto to NOT see Taylor Swift, I’m gonna murder him.” At 6:20 p.m., Katelyn showed off her outfit for the concert — a sparkly black dress with a gold jacket — and said, “The face of a gal whose husband made her get ready but still doesn’t have f–ing tickets.” On the next slide, she wrote, “We’re at a bar near the stadium and confessed for the first time all day we don’t have tickets to fellow Swifties and it felt good but I’m in full anxiety mode.” Luckily, the couple found tickets that cost $1,896 each and they bought them. “Holy freaking s–it we bought them and I’m just waiting for them to be transferred. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,” Katelyn said in a video from outside the stadium. “And you’re doing that right now?” an annoyed Kyle said to Katelyn. At 8:08 p.m., Katelyn said that they spent their dog Lou’s “college tuition on tickets and they haven’t transferred yet, so we can’t get in. She just went on.” Katelyn then recorded her husband on the phone with StubHub after the concert officially started. Five minutes later, Katelyn and Kyle made it into the stadium and she revealed that they got upgraded to floor seats. “This is a fever dream,” Katelyn wrote as the couple rushed to their seats during Swift’s “Lover” set of the show. “Hi so we’re in the 8th row,” Katelyn said while recording Swift singing “Fearless” from her second album. The influencer added, “I actually don’t know how it gets better than this. Can’t breathe still. Signing off. WHAT IS LIFE.” The next day, Katelyn shared an Instagram post with photos of her and Kyle at the concert. “I had the time of my life fighting StubHub with you,” her caption read. Swift played six shows at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. She will perform in Vancouver on December 6, 7 and 8, which marks the end of her Eras Tour.
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