by Brian Major
Last updated: 1:50 PM ET, Fri July 21, 2023
Puerto Rico’s growing visitor arrivals
are producing booming lodging demand across the destination. The island’s overall
hospitality demand has reached “unprecedented” levels, Discover Puerto Rico
(DPR) officials said, with nearly three million room nights reserved through
May, a 12 percent year-over-year increase compared with 2022.
Meanwhile, hotel demand has
increased by 11 percent, with hotels and resorts representing 60 percent of
total demand. Short-term rentals bookings grew 14 percent between 2022 and 2023
with demand doubling since 2019, DPR officials said in a July statement.
Puerto Rico’s strong demand is also reflected through its hotel rates, which have
averaged $315 through May, a six percent year-over-year increase compared with
2022. However, the destination’s average daily hotel rate in May was $267, a smaller
two percent increase over 2022.
“The post-COVID rush to travel pushed
hotel and airline prices higher,” DPR officials said in a statement. “But hotel
prices have grown much more slowly in recent months, with airfares falling last
month, the first time since the start of the Omicron variant in late 2021.”
DPR also reports that through June 2023, more
than three million visitors arrived at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport,
an 18 percent increase from last year’s record high through the first six
months of the year.
Furthermore, between April and June 2023,
international arrivals into Puerto Rico were up 32 percent year-over-year
compared with 2022, according to travel research firm Forward Keys.
Puerto Rico additionally reports the
highest domestic and international passenger throughput of any domestic
destination through May 2023 according to the U.S. Travel Association.
The island posted a 34.6 percent growth
rate compared with May 2019, while the national average remained down 0.5
percent from the same period, said DPR officials.
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