Can Puerto Rico’s tourism rely on ’Despacito’’s global success?

While the island of Puerto Rico is grappling with a $123 billion debt crisis, it is relying on the global smash ’Despacito’ to bring in badly-needed tourism dollars.

Already there’s a row over how the song’s success –#1 in 45 countries, most streamed track with 4.5 billion by last month, and most viewed video on YouTube after seven months and now 3.2 billion – brought in foreigners so far.

Last month, Billboard and local newspaper El Nuevo Día reported that the song – in particular its video which was shot on the island – had boosted tourism by 45% between April and June this year. However, the Washington Post argued that the figures do not stand up to scrutiny.

Nevertheless, the island’s government is now actively using ’Despacito’ to help alleviate its economic woes.

The hit is featured in the new global campaign by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, which sees singer Luis Fonsi paid $700,000 to license the song and allows the government to use his image in selling the country.

Governor Ricardo Rossello has announced that Fonsi will be Puerto Rico’s tourism ambassador, working with a tourism company to promote travel to the country during the next leg of his Love & Dance World Tour.

Fonsi, who was born in the country’s capital San Juan, says, “In the next year I will be working on efforts to make known the wonders of our beautiful island.

“Being an ambassador of the land where I was born fills me with pride.”

The song’s lyrics include: “Vamop a hecerlo en una playa en Puerto Rico” [“let’s do it on a beach in Puerto Rico”] and “This is how we do it down in Puerto Rico.”

The song is about slowly being seduced; the slogan blares, “The longer you stay, the better it gets.”

The tourism board also posted a video on Twitter where US TV hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest are discussing ’Despacito’.

The footage cuts to Puerto Rico’s cuisine, beaches and landscape, as well as a brief explainer of some of the hit song’s lyrics.

“We are closely monitoring official data sources to evaluate how the increase in searches and interest correlates to the number of visits and sales,” Jose Izquierdo, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., told Travel Weekly.

“We know that ’Despacito’ has been more than just a catchy summer tune.”

Certainly, movies and TV shows are instrumental in driving tourists to locations. with Croatia enjoying success most recently thanks to the filming ofGame of Thrones.

75% of Americans who go to Salzburg, Austria, do so because of The Sound of Music, which draws 300,000 people annually, despite it now being 50 years afterthe movie’s release; 40,000 of these visitors take the Sound Of Music Tour.

Crocodile Dundee doubled visitor numbers to Queensland in three years.

Despite being a flop, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin had numbers up 75% to the Greek island of Cephalonia. 100,000 visitors over summer swell its population of 34,000.

The sensational landscapes on Lord of The Rings revitalised New Zealand’s tourism industry to its current value of NZ$5.3 billion, with its Science Minister acknowledging the trilogy dispelled its reputation as a backwater dump, and “Lord of The Rings has definitely made the country realise what it can achieve.”

As for musical examples, Psy’s ’Gangnam Style’ might have helped put the focus on South Korea. But the almost 50% rise of tourists from 8.8 million to 13.2 million had nothing to do with the song’s video.

“I’d say that food and surgery are a far bigger draw,” said Euny Hong, author of The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture, to Business Week.

K-Pop fanatics weren’t the type to visit, she suggested. “Because, what’s their plan, hoping to run into G-Dragon on the streets of Seoul?”