Europe, the forgotten market

Sunday morning,

Here I am, in front of my laptop on the three kings day. On this post, I will abstain from telling my Puerto Rican experience today but instead focus on a subject that the Puerto Rican tourism company should focus on.
Europe, the unexplored market.
Out of curiosity, I went to my local travel agent to ask for holiday packages to Puerto Rico. Oh yes, she told me, we have fantastic offers, all inclusive and the Euro rate is actually quite ok at the moment.
Er..... Euro? "Yes, she said looking at me as if I was the biggest ignorant on Earth, yes Spain has adopted the Euro as the national currency".
Brief silence.....................................................................
I meant Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, not the Spanish one!!
Ohhhh, ok, let me look for something...... 5 mins later, the red faced informs me that the search has returned 0 results. Our agency does not have any deals for Puerto Rico, but let me strongly recommend the Dominican Republic.
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I was visiting the Puerto Rican tourism office website today and surprisingly found not much or hardly any information towards Europe.
Yes, I know that no U.S. passport is required and that Puerto Rico is the second most visited island in the Caribbean by the mainland tourists, but before I begin, let's cross over to the other island west of Puerto Rico.
My friends, let me introduce you to the Dominican Republic.
Many, many miles of white sand, glorious weather and fantastic beaches, lots of welcoming people ready to assist you. Several resorts packed with tourists from all over the world, hold on, did I just say from all over the world?

Yes I did, Dominican Republic isn't just about the American tourist, they also invested heavily in the European market. Several posters and advertisments are seen everywhere in Europe, the Dominican Republic is virtually present in every single travel agent and tv travel channel. Puerto Rico, in London, I have never seen any, hold on, yes I did, one advert on Sky travel for a cruise with a stop in San Juan.
Let's look at statistics, as per the ministry of tourism in the Dominican republic, in 2005, the tourism share was divided by:
North American tourists: 47.12%, European tourists: 45.18%

Upon reading the document, a few more interesting points:

"Tourism accounts for 24% GDP of the DR"
"The DR has nearly 60,000 rooms and 674 hotels, compared to Puerto Rico with 12,700 rooms and 145 hotels" Ooouch, having a go at your neighbour, hey DR?

More, "the DR is now the top destination in the Caribbean, surpassing Puerto Rico in tourism dollars and number of tourists"

The information above clearly shows the lack of investment in Europe and Asia to promote Puerto Rico. In fact, by looking at the current economic trend, one would not be surprised to see more Europeans than Americans travelling in a couple of years time.

The DR has several direct flights to European cities,
-Why is Iberia the only bridge beetwen Europe and PR?
-Why did British Airways and Lufthansa terminated the flights to PR?
-Why didn't the tourism board tried to stop the end of those flights?
-Why is PR far more advanced in terms of infrastructure and services than DR, yet gets fewer tourists? Or do they invest less to promote it?
-Do they spend most of the budget promoting in just the U.S?
-Why not look towards Europe

Ok, enough questions, it's Sunday, I will go back to bed.
Happy three kings day

Statistics and info above extracted from: http://www.godominicanrepublic.com/images/pdfs/Facts_Figures2.pdf