How 2 Creatives Are Trying to Boost Puerto Rico’s Tourism After Hurricane Maria

It’s been 10 months since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and while the island has slowly started to get back on its feet, it continues to face a dearth of much-needed tourism. Enter Elena Knox and Alyssa Georg of Droga5, who realized they could use their influence to help spur a revitalization campaign, and thus #RnRforPR was born.

Knox and Georg visited the island themselves and drew up a comprehensive itinerary to prove it is indeed ready for tourism, and now they’re hoping to inspire others to do the same. The campaign is simple—they’ve asked their colleagues to take a trip to Puerto Rico for a little “RnR,” and to post their travels to social media under the designated hashtag. To sweeten the deal, the women asked Droga5 to offer employees a free additional vacation day to be spent exclusively in Puerto Rico, and the agency obliged.

According to the women, eight employees have so far taken advantage of this initiative and booked trips. “The initiative was positively received amongst Droga5 employees and leadership and more are looking to book their trips,” they added. The agency is not covering any costs incurred on these trips.

“One of the core pillars of Droga5’s DNA since day one has been being ‘Humanity Obsessed,’ striving to constantly create ideas and initiatives that will add value to people’s lives,” said Knox. “We want to take any opportunity we can to make a difference, no matter how big or small.”

And, according to the women, Droga5 is just the beginning for this campaign. “We’re hoping to spread this initiative to other companies in the city to help get Puerto Rico back on it’s feet,” Georg said. “We’re looking at you: other agencies, production companies, tech partners and media compatriots.”

Alissa Fleck

@AlissaFleck

Alissa Fleck is a New York City-based reporter, podcast producer and contributor to Adweek.