Ricky Martin to promote Puerto Rico tourism on world tour

San Juan: Singer Ricky Martin will collaborate with the government of Puerto Rico on a campaign to boost tourism to the Caribbean island during his world tour, which will begin March 25, officials said.The "Puerto Rico lo hace mejor" (Puerto Rico does it better) campaign will be featured in the advertising and on the concert entry tickets in the more than 70 cities where Martin will perform on his "Musica, alma, sexo" tour, Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Jose Perez-Riera said in a statement Monday.

During the artist`s shows, videos will be played that show landscapes, tourist attractions and culinary and gastronomic delicacies of Puerto Rico, Perez-Riera said. "By joining Ricky Martin`s world tour as a presenter, we can continue strengthening our `Puerto Rico lo hace mejor` campaign on the international level presenting Puerto Rico as a synonym for quality," Perez-Riera went on to say. Martin will kick off his world tour in the Jose M. Agrelot Colosseum in San Juan with four shows and will then travel to the US cities of Orlando and Miami, as well as to Montreal, Canada. The singer, meanwhile, emphasised that Puerto Rico "is always present" within him and expressed his gratitude for "the chance to be able to collaborate with this effort to position our land" more advantageously in the tourism industry via the campaign. "The chance for Puerto Rico to have a presence on each stage of this tour is an honour," the singer said. The campaign will help to "promote Puerto Rico as a destination full of touristic, economic and investment opportunities" just as was the passage of a law several weeks ago to develop the island`s film market, Perez-Riera said. "Ricky Martin joins the list of Puerto Rican ambassadors like Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez who have said `present` to helping us with our economic development strategies," he added. The Department of Economic Development and Commerce will also coordinate special events in several of the cities where Martin will perform to communicate information about the economic incentives, investment opportunities in all sectors, infrastructure projects and tourist attractions to groups of potential investors. The government`s message via Martin`s world tour "will have an incalculable mulitiplier effect for the island", the executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Mario Gonzalez, said. IANS