From Pharmaceutical Manufacturing to Meetings, Puerto Rico Tops the Industry in Production, Service and Style

When most people think about Puerto Rico, the images that come to mind are those of pristine beaches, historic cities surrounded by Spanish forts and sweeping Caribbean views and an effervescent culture of people filled with pride for their heritage and people. Yet, look deeper into what makes Puerto Rico’s economy thrive, and one will find that for the past thirty years, Puerto Rico has quietly become a powerhouse in the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, today Puerto Rico is known as the leading destination for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, biotech drugs and medical devices.

With sixteen of the 20 top-selling pharmaceutical products manufactured in Puerto Rico, the Island is the world’s largest international shipper of pharmaceutical products, distributing more than $30 billion worth of pharmaceutical products around the globe each year. Currently home to more than 60 pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, Puerto Rico employees more than 28,000 workers in this market segment alone at companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, Schering-Plough and Wyeth.

In addition to pharmaceutical manufacturing, Puerto Rico is also well-known for the manufacturing of medical/scientific devices, making the Island one of the largest high-tech manufacturing centers in the country. With more than $2 billion worth of medical products goods shipped each year, Puerto Rico boasts 65 medical device plants, employing more than 17,000 workers at companies such as Baxter, Medtronic, Roche, Unilever and U.S. Surgical.

Even with these impressive figures, Puerto Rico continues to show its strength, expanding into the area of biotech drug development and production. Recently, companies such as Abbott, Eli Lilly and Amgen have invested more than $1.6 billion in biotech manufacturing in Puerto Rico. With such hefty private investment, Puerto Rico’s government is taking the next step to serve the growing biotech market with the construction of a new 17,300 sq. ft. biotech research park and processing plant. Owned by Puerto Rico’s economic development organization, PRIDCO, the park will also include life science, technology and lab facilities, all with aim to continue the development of Puerto Rico-based science and technology companies.

Today, Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry represents 26 percent of the Island’s Gross Domestic Product. Yet the manufacturing of pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device products serves as an engine to many of Puerto Rico’s other top industries, including engineering, food service, component manufacturing, medical and legal services, banking and insurance, transportation communication, tourism – as well as meetings and conventions.

Meetings in Puerto Rico: An Overview

Growing in tandem with the Island’s pharmaceutical industry, meetings and conventions comprise nearly one-third of Puerto Rico’s well-established tourism industry, with estimates that this specialized market contributes approximately $900 million each year to Puerto Rico’s local economy.

Puerto Rico offers many advantages to the meetings market that has helped the Island develop its reputation as the preferred meeting destination of the Americas. Top accommodations with known hotel brands known for efficiently serving the needs of business travelers are coupled with a modern communications infrastructure that meshes seamlessly with the U.S. mainland. Add to that more than 1.2 million square feet of meeting space and 1,300 flights each week from around the globe and it’s easy to see how effortless it can be to conduct business on the Island.

The Puerto Rico Convention Center Welcomes a New Era

In November 2005, Puerto Rico entered a new era in its tourism history with the opening of the Puerto Rico Convention Center. The new Puerto Rico Convention Center is the largest convention center in the Caribbean and the most technologically advanced facility in the Caribbean and Latin America. Located in San Juan, this state-of-the-art facility is just minutes from the Luis Muniz Marín International Airport, San Juan’s business center, historic Old San Juan and the beach hotel zones of Condado and Isla Verde.

As the largest facility of its kind in the Caribbean, the new Puerto Rico Convention Center is comprised of a 152,700 sq. ft. (14,186 sq. m.) exhibition hall dividable into three individual exposition spaces, as well as a 39,500 sq. ft (3,670 sq. m.) Grand Ballroom, the largest in the Caribbean. The Center also offers 36,400 sq. ft. (3,363 sq. m.) of meeting space, including 15 separate meeting rooms on two levels, which can be divided into 28 breakout rooms. With the ability to host groups of up to 10,000 delegates, the Puerto Rico Convention Center allows the Island to compete not only in the convention markets of the Americas, but also in the international market, creating a singular destination for conventions, trade shows, consumer shows and congresses that place Puerto Rico at the forefront of world-class meeting destinations.

As the most-technologically advanced convention center in the Caribbean and Latin America, full fiber optic broadband and wireless Internet access is available throughout the Center with additional services, including video-conferencing, satellite up-link and down-link; simultaneous language translation can also be arranged. Other technological highlights include controllable lighting, electrical and utility connections readily accessible through state-of-the-art floor boxes in the Exhibition Hall; a production control balcony with sound and lighting controls in the Ballroom, as well as an integrated audio system with the capability for remote recording of programs and programmable lighting controls in the Ballroom and meeting rooms.

The Puerto Rico Convention Center’s distinctive design welcomes delegates with a dominant architectural expression of a large sweeping roof forms recalling waves in their complex geometry, color and translucency. Materials used throughout the Center are reminiscent of local materials including stone, concrete and glass, in a sophisticated and thoroughly contemporary composition. The Center’s design also considers many of Puerto Rico’s natural attributes -- incorporating water and ocean imagery throughout the facility while infusing the colors and textures of Puerto Rico’s flora and fauna in interior spaces to evoke a sense of place rooted in Puerto Rico’s heritage, culture and natural beauty.

Built to create a singular destination for conventions, tradeshows and consumer events, the new Puerto Rico Convention Center is part of an entire 113-acre District, considered one of the largest and most ambitious waterfront development projects in the history of the U.S. and its territories. Conceived as a vibrant urban gathering place, the Puerto Rico Convention Center District, scheduled for completion in 2012, will enable visitors to experience the distinctiveness of Puerto Rico in what will become one of the Island’s most sought-after spots for business, shopping, recreation and entertainment to include hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and other amenities. Already, with the Center open and other major District elements completed, the area serves as a lively hub for both commerce and community.

“The Puerto Rico Convention Center and surrounding District offer meeting attendees a dynamic hub of activity,” stated Manuel Sánchez Biscombe, executive director, Convention Center District Authority. “The District’s convention, entertainment, dining, office and residential features will bring together visitors and
the people of Puerto Rico and generate an estimated $300 million annually to Puerto Rico’s local economy.”

Recent developments at the Puerto Rico Convention Center District include the completion of the Paseo de las Fuentes, an urban park featuring breathtaking fountains, walkways, sitting areas as well as an outdoor café. In addition, groundbreaking on the 500-room headquarter Sheraton hotel, located adjacent to the Convention Center took place in the summer of 2006. The $209 million “urban resort” property will include 60,000 sq. ft. of meeting space including two ballrooms, banquet and meeting rooms, and will also have an open lobby, casino and entertainment complex, as well as a full-service spa and fitness center, restaurants and shops. The property will also feature a rooftop pool with cabanas, tropical gardens and views of Old San Juan and the harbor. Described as a “beach without sand,” the area is designed to bring the Caribbean into the Convention Center District for delegates to enjoy.

Puerto Rico: Great Meetings. Inside & Out.

Yet Puerto Rico offers so much more than a world-class convention center for meeting attendees in the pharmaceutical industry. Puerto Rico is a paradox -- historic yet modern, exotic yet familiar, exciting yet relaxing, with an extraordinary blend of attributes which offers pharmaceutical meeting attendees a delightful, unforgettable tropical meeting experience.

As most visitors agree, Puerto Rico is defined by a rich cultural heritage and proud history. Located in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico is also known for its stunning beaches, tropical landscape and ample access from many major U.S. destinations. Exciting daytime pursuits include water sports, hiking, tennis, championship golf and spa activities while evening group options include restaurants, casinos, lounges, and nightclubs. As part of the U.S., visitors to Puerto Rico enjoy the ease of traveling to a United States Commonwealth with a common language, currency, postal system, banking and telecommunications services. In addition, no passports are required by U.S. citizens to travel to and from the Island.

Puerto Rico possesses a collection of world-class hotels and resorts, featuring some of the largest and most modern meeting facilities in the region. In fact, Puerto Rico offers 1.2 million square feet of conference and business facilities for groups of up to 10,000 meeting attendees and is home to many top name hotel brands, including Hilton, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, LXR, Sol Melia, Inter-Continental and more.

Currently, there are more than 70 hotel development projects currently underway in Puerto Rico, including the addition of a St. Regis property to the Island’s portfolio and the renovation of two revered properties – the Renaissance La Concha Hotel & Casino and the Condado Vanderbilt. La Concha, which will open later in 2007 will feature 248 rooms with 15,000 square feet of meeting space. The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel, formerly one of San Juan’s grandest properties, is scheduled to re-open in 2008 following an extensive renovation project and will offer 300 rooms and 20,000 sq. ft of meeting space.

In addition, the El Conquistador Resort & Gold Door Spa has broken ground on the construction of a $27 million conference center that is scheduled to open in March 2007. The property will include two adjacent conference areas with a total of four ballrooms, providing meeting planners with more square feet of indoor meeting space per available sleeping room than any other resort in the Caribbean.

Pharma Meetings Made Easy: The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau

Pharmaceutical executives looking to take advantage of all the business synergies and other attributes that make meetings great in Puerto Rico can look to the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau for assistance. For more than forty years, this award-winning organization of dedicated professionals has been working with the pharmaceutical industry to host meetings and other programs on the island that adhere to FDA pharmaceutical compliance laws in state-of-the-art meeting facilities.
By utilizing the services of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, pharmaceutical meeting planners can take advantage of the organization’s “one-stop shopping” approach, gaining expert meeting and destination knowledge from a dedicated destination specialist who can help coordinate and implement all elements of a program in Puerto Rico, from assisting with hotel proposals and site selection to providing promotional materials, brochures and other items to support a program and from organizing special events and theme parties to coordinating onsite convention staff, housing services and more.

Best of all, the services of the Bureau are free of charge and provide a valuable liaison to the organization’s 500 members and suppliers, including ground transportation operators, AV and translation service providers, destination management company and others dedicated to ensuring a successful meeting experience in Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau is the official sales and marketing agent of the Puerto Rico Convention Center and is also a distinguished member of the BestCities Alliance, a global association of Bureaus that represent the highest standards of service in the meetings and convention industry.
To get more information about planning a pharmaceutical program in Puerto Rico, contact the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau at 1-800-875-4765. With main offices in San Juan, the Bureau also has offices in Chicago, Miami, New York and Washington, DC. Additional information on choosing, planning and implementing a program in Puerto Rico can also be obtained by visiting www.meetpuertorico.com.