Puerto Rico will host Connect Marketplace 2022

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Discover Puerto Rico said that Puerto Rico will be the host of Connect Marketplace 2022, an event that will bring more than 2,000 tourism and hospitality professionals.

This major travel industry event will take place May 22-23, 2022, at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, using several hotel properties and the Distrito T-Mobile, with an estimated economic impact of $3 million, the entity confirmed. The announcement was made at the Connect Marketplace 2021 Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico said that as the meetings industry experiences a great deal of change and transformation, Puerto Rico is positioned to play a key role in the recovery of this important segment. This event positions Puerto Rico well to accelerate the recovery of our island by hosting key buyers and enlightening them on all that Puerto Rico has to offer.

Connect Meetings is an organisation that provides planners and suppliers with education and professional development to advance their careers while conducting business through one-on-one marketplace appointments.

This event will generate more than 35,000 one-on-one business appointments between meeting and hospitality professionals, attracting people from the United States and beyond, representing the following markets: Corporate, financial, tech, and insurance; associations; sports diversity; women in sports; luxury/incentive; and citywide.

Chris Collinson, president of Connect Meetings said that Connect is very excited to go to Puerto Rico next year. It’s always been a great destination to bring events to, but the addition of DISTRITO T-Mobile takes it to a whole new level. We look forward to working together with Discover Puerto Rico to activate a great conference for 2,000 members of the best event professionals in the industry.

Connect qualifies planners through a 15-person in-house planner development sales team, by identifying the top decision-maker within an organization, and providing two to three references from past destinations and/or hotels that were sourced. This team is focused on having their suppliers meet with those planners who are pre-qualified and are actively sourcing business, Discover Puerto Rico explained.

Dean said that by hosting hundreds of meeting planners, we have a unique opportunity to showcase our island as a premier meetings destination. Historically, the largest FAM trips have been 50-60 meeting planners at a time in Puerto Rico.

Through this event, Discover Puerto Rico will showcase several locations and additional municipalities and partners outside of San Juan through pre and post “fam” trips. The DMO and Connect will work together to promote this event to maximize attendance and the return on investment, Dean said.

« Back to Page

• Avelo Airlines Boeing Next Generation 737s now link Burbank with Colorado Springs-Denver

• Caribbean Tourism Booms in 2024: Islands See Record-Breaking Visitor Numbers

• Avelo Airlines Celebrates 100 days of nonstop service from Wilmington to San Juan, Puerto Rico

• Skylight’s Recent Drone Show Grabbed Limelight

• Unlimited $399 fly non-stop summer 2024 with Frontier’s GoWild! Pass