The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is moving its 2020 Global Summit from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Cancun, Mexico, the group announced on Tuesday.
The WTTC Global Summit will be held from April 21-23. The organization said that it made the change "given what is best for Puerto Rico at this time," noting that its "mission is to promote sustainable growth for the Travel & Tourism sector globally."
However, the WTTC confirmed that a "major event" will be held in San Juan sometime later this year.
While WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara downplayed the recent string of earthquakes impacting the island, protests and political unrest have created additional concerns.
"WTTC remains strongly committed to supporting Puerto Rico's amazing comeback story as seen in their record-breaking year in tourism last year. Although the Island was ready to welcome us with open arms this April, despite the recent seismic activity in the southern region, reallocating resources to continue this great momentum is the right thing to do in order to further boost tourism. We are looking forward to hosting an event in Puerto Rico later this year," Guevara said in a statement.
"This switch to Cancun will enable us to host a Global Summit focused on the opportunities and challenges facing our sector in 2020 and beyond, which will help to grow tourism further," she added. "The 20th Global Summit will benefit and showcase not only Mexico but the wider regions of the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean."
As a result of the change, the WTTC said that financial resources set aside for the summit will instead be put toward "impactful, consumer-facing campaigns and marketing efforts that strongly promote Puerto Rico's 'open for tourism' message and drive immediate visitor numbers to the Island."
The WTTC Global Summit is one of the most important events in travel and tourism.
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