2024-01-25 17:51:51
Although attendance at the San Sebastián Street Festival broke records with more than 700,000 visitors, different merchants assured that sales were not as significant taking into consideration the number of people present, although the results remained positive.
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“On Thursday the movement was not so spectacular, nor on Friday. Better sales were already recorded on Saturday and Sunday. But, the good-natured merchants who are always in the area have told us that there was a lot of competition from the kiosks,” said Diana Font, president of the Old San Juan Merchants Association.
According to information provided by the municipality, there were a total of 37 food and drink kiosks whose rental costs were $3,500 and $4,500.
According to the president, the high rent prices led different temporary merchants to inflate their prices, causing commotion among citizens on social networks and causing many to choose to bring their own drinks and food to the celebration. This, in her opinion, caused spending per person to decrease.
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On the other hand, he reported that the mayor had promised them that he would make the public order code more flexible, which currently limits the sale of alcoholic beverages until 1:00 am and 2:00 am, however, this was not achieved.
For his part, Arnaldo Pacheco, owner of the Camínalo Store accessory stores, reported that his sales did not present significant changes compared to last year. At that time, sales had increased by up to 300%, the merchant reported to THE SPOKESMAN.
“Compared to the previous year, I sold more or less the same. But, given the drastic drop in movement that San Juan had recently, we were able to sell regarding 10% more than normal. This, because the stores were reporting regarding 18%, 20% below (in sales) and during the weekend we went up to 30%,” Pacheco reported.
He explained that, during the four days, the brand’s three stores located in Old San Juan always remained busy, although the spending budget was lower.
“There were people who thought twice regarding spending even $15. But, there was also the client who bought me three or four shirts, and almost all of them were young boys,” Pacheco explained.
In general, he was satisfied with the result, although he acknowledged that it might have been better. Likewise, he commented that this weekend they will participate for the first time in the street version in the state of Florida, La SanSe Takes in Orlando.
Public transportation
The agencies attached to the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP), the Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI) and the Metropolitan Bus Authority (AMA) reported yesterday that they mobilized over 200,000 citizens during the four days of the SanSe Festival.
The Tren Urbano registered a patronage of 115,300 passengers and the Cataño boat mobilized 45,577 passengers.
Assuming that each trip on the train costs $1.50 and each trip on the boat costs $1.00, this media calculated that the total generated by these two methods amounts to $218,527.
Taxis y Uber
On the other hand, taxi drivers, who usually take advantage of this weekend to exceed their sales, reported that they have not exceeded expectations, and each year they transport fewer people.
According to the president of the Federation of Taxi Drivers, Juan de León, during the first three days they had reached around 22,000 passengers, so the total number might have reached 25,000.
“Compared to previous years, we suffered great losses,” said de León.
He explained that during the first two days there was poor communication with the personnel who were directing traffic, and the movement of taxis was not as fast. After that, he admitted that the mayor contacted them to improve access, but they had already suffered losses.
He recalled that, although the costs per person ranged between $4 and $5 per trip, when faced with traffic congestion and not charging for that extra delay time, income was reduced.
The same was said by Otoniel Adorno, former president of the General Union of Taxi Drivers, who reported that he has not participated in the festivities for five years.
“I understand that it is no longer worth it. Before, that was a harvest time for us, so we did go and make good money. But at this stage of the game, with so much unfair competition, it is impossible,” Adorno said.
In the case of Uber, the company informed this newspaper that around 14,000 trips were recorded in the application to and from the Uber Zone, which was designated for the weekend.
“Without a doubt it is a very important milestone and we are grateful to the Municipality of San Juan for promoting the alliance so that driver partners and users might have the best mobility experience during the holidays,” executives from the Uber Puerto Rico office issued, through written statements.
Micromovilidad
Juan Carlos Parra, chief executive officer of the Puerto Rican company Skootel, reported that during this second year in which they participated in the festivities, the balance of the trips was positive.
“We are very pleased with the reception we achieved during the four days of this massive event. Once once more, we far exceeded our expectations, as well as the results of the last edition. Every time we set a record, and that is easy to say, it requires effort from a work team that is committed to reciprocating the trust of our clients. “We are very grateful for the support they give us,” said Parra.
Although he did not offer the number of registered trips, he shared that the trips made represented a saving in carbon emissions (CO2) of 9,526 pounds, and a saving in gasoline of 428 gallons.
This, however, represents a slight decrease compared to 2023, in which the savings in CO2 emissions was 11,364 pounds and the savings in gasoline was 511 gallons.
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Cruise ships
For her part, Crystal Bell, director of air and maritime access for the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (CTPR), reported that 35,597 passengers arrived by cruise ship during the SanSe weekend, and the approximate economic impact was $5 million. .
At the moment, the municipality of San Juan has not revealed the figures of the total economic impact of the event, but the mayor, Miguel Romero, assured THE SPOKESMANwhich will exceed the reported $50 million in 2023.
“It seems to me that the economic impact might be significantly greater. That is something that, in the coming days, one of our consultants in the economic area will see all the details and the final numbers will be shared,” said Romero.
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