ABSTRACT
Hurricanes are the single most costly and often deadly natural disasters annually in the United States. The annual cost of one hurricane is more than $54 Billion. The United States territory of Puerto Rico often suffers from these tropical disasters because of its location in the Caribbean Sea. Not only do the permanent residents of the island territory suffer, but so does the Puerto Rican economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism. In 2019 Puerto Rico hosted more than 3.5 million visitors. In 2017 Hurricane Maria caused about $100 million in damages and resulted in a decline of more than 14% in tourist visits that year. By 2019, however, Puerto Rican tourism officials used a public relations campaign to announce its rebound from the 2017 destruction which resulted in a 9.36% increase in tourism for that year. This case is a study of how Puerto Rico built on its sterling reputation as a tourism paradise to reassure visitors it was safe to return to the island.
