NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 29 – Despacito, the world’s most watched Youtube video by Luis Fonsi, has increased tourist interest in Puerto Rico by 45 percent since the worldwide success of the song.
The hit song by the Puerto Rican singer and songwriter has had 3.4 billion views since it was published on YouTube in January 2017.
The song features fellow Puerto Rican superstar Daddy Yankee.
“According to daily Un Nuevo Dia, tourist interest in traveling to Puerto Rico increased 45 percent since the song began to play worldwide. How did this happen? Just including the phrase, “this is how we do it down in Puerto Rico,” Billboard International wrote.
Other sources reveal that the song has aroused the interest of foreign tourists to know the place where the superstars were born.
High interest by tourists has been registered in the La Perla district in Old San Juan and Club La Factoría, locations that featured extensively in the Despacito video.
“What a joy it is to read this in international media. Puerto Rico is the true protagonist of this song and this video,” Fonsi wrote on Instagram.
Earlier this month, Despacito un-sat Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” featuring Charlie Puth as the most viewed song worldwide. Khalifa’s hit had previously overtaken five year holder “Gangnam Style” by Korean singer Psy.
Puerto Rican tourist’s boost comes at a time when the country declared bankruptcy earlier this year in order to restructure a US$70 Billion debt.
The country welcomes about 4 million tourists per year. Available data records that 4.2 million tourists visited the country in 2013.
“Something unusual is happening in La Perla, a poor barrio clinging to a steep hillside between Old San Juan and the sea where the video for the pop hit “Despacito” was filmed…” AFP wrote in July.
“Outsiders were afraid to venture in before, but since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s megahit, tourists from all over the world are descending on the narrow streets that wind among La Perla’s brightly colored houses,” AFP continues.
