The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) is hoping for a grand slam of the kind the Mets were on the wrong end of on Tuesday night versus the Cards at Citi Field. The PRTC has launched a partnership with the New York MLB team that includes a cross-promotion with The Rums of Puerto Rico.

The latter, a division of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co., gets bar-shelf real estate at Citi Field. Lounges, bars and restaurants at the stadium will serve rum brands like Don Q, Bacardi, Palo Viejo, Barrilito, Castillo and Ron Llave at premium venues at Citi field, while PRTC will advertise at the stadium, on-field and during local and national Mets game broadcasts. Ads drive consumers to GoToPuertoRico.com.

Mario Gonzalez de Lafuente, deputy director of PRTC, tells Marketing Daily that the organization has been ramping up marketing of Puerto Rico as a destination for tennis, golf, baseball and basketball fans. The group, along with The Rums of Puerto Rico, has hosted the Puerto Rico Open PGA tour for the second year in a row; NCAA basketball preliminaries; and the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. The groups will also host a "Taste of Tennis" event at the U.S. Open in New York this month.

PRTC started a promotional campaign in June, running through December, that reflects a new approach to marketing Puerto Rico by directly linking advertising with package deals through seven sites like Expedia and Travelocity.

"For the first time, we are integrating direct sales into promotions and marketing, so our ad campaigns include promotional packages," he says. The June promotion, "Big Thrill, Small Bill," included national and regional TV and print ads and interactive elements. He says the program has brought 36,000 hotel room bookings to the island.

A fall extension of the campaign, "Twice the Thrill at Half the Bill," offers free two nights when visitors book four nights and tour discounts when visitors book by Aug. 31 and travel by Dec. 20.

"Puerto Rico is a very important tourism destination for the U.S.," says Gonzalez de Lafuente, adding that 85% of visitors are from the continental U.S. "New York is the most important market."

He adds that the territory competes with other Caribbean islands as well as Florida and other domestic destinations. "Puerto Rico has two major advantages over other Caribbean destinations: diversity of activities, including music, sports, rainforests, bioluminescent bays ... and the fact that we are part of the U.S."

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