Gay Nagle Myers
How much does a hit song impact a destination, or does it?
It appears that the monster pop smash "Despacito," featuring Puerto Rican recording artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, has been drumming up plenty of interest in Puerto Rico.
The song became an instant hit this year, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number one on May 20 when the English-infused remix featuring Justin Bieber was released in April.
Both versions include lines about the island; in the English version, the line is "This is how we do it down in Puerto Rico." The music video for "Despacito," filmed in San Juan, became the most popular clip on YouTube when it topped three billion views on Aug. 4. (The YouTube video of the Bieber remix, which shows simply a static image, has 464 million views.)
While the literal translation of the song's title means "slowly," it seems the song itself has generated a rush of online searches for hotel and travel information about the island.
On Hotels.com, searches for Puerto Rico surged 45% between April 17 and June 17, compared to the exact same dates in 2016, according to Hotels.com spokesman Taylor Cole.
"That 45% year-over-year figure is based on searches made on all Hotels.com points of sale during that time period," Cole said. Searches from the U.S. for Puerto Rico topped that figure, at more than 50% growth, he said.
"We know that popular culture has a strong influence on our travel
decisions," Cole said. "Puerto Rico is the
home of the singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, and it gets a big
shoutout in their hit song. Our search data suggests that 'Despacito' is
encouraging more people to explore this destination."
Parent company Expedia Inc. has seen growth in demand for Puerto Rico through all of its sites during the first half of the year and particularly in the second quarter, when travel demand jumped 20% compared with Q2 2016.
Expedia reported that the top inbound countries to Puerto Rico were the U.S., an increase of nearly 10% year over year, followed by Canada, up 5%, and Mexico, up 20%.
Tourism interest can be impacted by many factors like season and accessibility, according to Jose Izquierdo, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. But, he added: "We can confirm that there has been heightened interest in Puerto Rico due to 'Despacito,' which showcases the talented artists hailing from Puerto Rico.
"Search queries for traveling to Puerto Rico rose across the globe between April 17 and June 17 across online travel brands compared to the same time last year."
Izquierdo cited search increases for Orbitz, up 40%; Cheap Tickets, up 24%; Travelocity, up 10%, and Travelzoo, up 25% from January through June.
It remains to be seen, however, if interest in "Despacito" has translated or will translate into visits. According to the Caribbean Hospitality Market Update's mid-year report from Integra Realty Resources, Puerto Rico's hotel occupancy and average daily rate through June have declined by 6.1% from 2016 numbers for the same time period.
"We are closely monitoring official data sources to evaluate how the increase in searches and interest correlates to the number of visits and sales," Izquierdo said. "We know that 'Despacito' has been more than just a catchy summer tune."
True enough. Now if I could only get the song out of my head.