'Despacito' having trickle down effect on tourism: Survey

"Despacito", a song by Puerto Rican artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, is not only breaking viewing records on YouTube and garnering positive attention, but also boosting tourism in their native place, stated a survey.

The survey, conducted by online accommodation booking website Hotels.com, analysed data based on searches made on the online portal from April 17, 2017 - June 17, 2017, compared to the exact same dates in 2016, read a statement.

It indicates that there is a hike of 45 per cent in travel searches made for Puerto Rico after the song was released as compared to the prospective traveller searches made during the same time last year.

Jessica Chuang, Hotels.com Director, Regional Marketing Greater China, SEA and India at Hotels.com, said: "We know popular culture has a strong influence on our travel decisions and as Puerto Rico is the home of singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, and gets a big shout out in their hit song, it seems to be encouraging more people to explore this great destination."

According to billboard.com, "Despacito" has become the first Spanish language song to reach the peak in more than 20 years.

Since its release in January, "Despacito" has streamed over 771 million times in the US through July 20, and is currently No. 1 on video and streaming charts. Many music critics described the song as a "history-making hit".

The music video was released on January 12 and reached one billion views on YouTube within 97 days.

Later, Canadian pop star Justin Bieber put out a remix of the song in late April, taking it to a wider audience.

--IANS

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