Skift Take
Puerto Rico tourism, bolstered by Airbnb when hotels were shut, has had a noteworthy comeback. But if travel and living have blended, then the island's fiscal and political woes can't be overlooked.
Puerto Rico tourism is as hot as a breezeless late-morning in June on the island, but it also faces long-term challenges that could chill the narrative.
With much of the work divided between the private sector-led Discover Puerto Rico and the decades-old, government-run Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Puerto Rico tourism eclipsed pre-pandemic marks in 2021 on airport arrivals, non-resident visitor spending, lodging taxes generated, and hotel revenue per available room, which was 124 percent higher than the U.S. average that year.
Figures from the first four months of 2022, including hotel average daily rates of $305, which amounted to a 35 percent year-over-year increase, showed nothing if not acceleration in the island’s tourism metrics.
“In 2021, once the restrictions were relaxed, it was off to the races,” Brad Dean, the CEO of Discover Puerto Rico, told Skift.
All of that came despite a tumultuous last half-
Photo Credit: A screenshot from Discover Puerto Rico's Live Boricua marketing campaign. Discover Puerto Rico Adobe / Raquel Pedrosa