After hosting nearly 900 attendees at the 2023 American Society of Travel Advisors’ Global Convention last month, Puerto Rico is in the spotlight as a shining example of the Caribbean’s strong tourism rebound. Destination marketing organization Discover Puerto Rico reports record-breaking arrival numbers that exceed pre-pandemic statistics.
To ensure continued growth, Discover Puerto Rico is taking a multipronged approach to promoting the island, hosting several major tourism events this year and continuing with a Live Boricua campaign that highlights Puerto Rico’s unique attributes and identity.
We sat down with Ed Carey, chief sales officer for Discover Puerto Rico to find out more about the latest tourism figures and developments in the destination.
How would you describe Puerto Rico’s post-pandemic tourism rebound?
It has been outstanding. In 2022, more than 5.1 million passengers arrived at San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, which was 6.5% higher than 2021, a year that had already surpassed 2019 numbers. We’re thrilled with the recovery pace in Puerto Rico. This quarter, ending in March, hotels and rentals have generated more than $500 million in revenue — 78% higher than pre-pandemic. So, it has been extraordinary.
This quarter, ending in March, hotels and rentals have generated more than $500 million in revenue — 78% higher than pre-pandemic. So, it has been extraordinary.
What are some reasons for the destination’s impressive recovery?
One is the resilience of the people in Puerto Rico and their genuine care and hospitality for visitors. The other is our own diligence in spreading the word — Puerto Rico’s core value propositions — to the industry.
What are Puerto Rico’s main selling points?
It’s an easy destination to get to; there are no passports required for U.S. citizens; we use U.S. currency; and your cell phone plan works here. And once you get here, you’ve also got this incredible, international destination with 500 years of history, architecture and contributions to the arts and gastronomy.
What types of travelers are visiting Puerto Rico the most?
Families, more than ever, are traveling to Puerto Rico, and I think that has a lot to do with reconnecting after the pandemic and getting out and having new experiences. Destination weddings have been great for us too, and we’ve had a lot of girls’ and guys’ trips that have been super successful. And now our corporate customers are starting to come back, as well.
It seems like airlift is growing into Puerto Rico, especially with new routes recently announced by Frontier Airlines.
Frontier announced five new nonstop routes to San Juan, plus additional service to Aguadilla and Ponce. A lot of people forget that we have three airports in Puerto Rico, and those are served by JetBlue and Spirit, as well. (United Airlines also flies to Aguadilla.)
I assume that Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago are the best connecting hubs for travelers from the Western U.S. to visit Puerto Rico.
Yes, and we’re also pushing for additional service from the West Coast. We’ve been talking about getting a direct flight from Los Angeles for some time now, and we hope to get that in the near future. United recently announced a new nonstop flight from Denver, so that’s certainly a big thing for leisure travelers and our group segment.
We’ve been talking about getting a direct flight from Los Angeles for some time now, and we hope to get that in the near future.
How important are travel advisors to Puerto Rico’s tourism industry?
We believe they bring tremendous value to Puerto Rico — hence the fact that we’ve been very involved with ASTA and we hosted the ASTA Global Convention. We also have the Puerto Rico Travel Expert program, and we’ve been adding to it as it has evolved. Agents are eligible for continuing education units, so there’s a reason to do it beyond curiosity. And we have it available in Spanish; it has been almost a year that we’ve had it in Spanish as well as English.
Once you’re an expert, you have access to a personal dashboard and a loyalty program. So, when you log into that dashboard, you tell us where you’re sending your customers, and you’re rewarded on a points system. We want to make the program continuously more robust.
You mentioned the recent ASTA Global Convention, which took place at the Puerto Rico Convention Center. What does hosting an event like that mean for the destination?
For us, it was an opportunity to raise our level of credibility. We’ve attracted some really major events this year — ASTA is one of them — and coming up, we also have the Society of American Travel Writers convention, the Women in Travel summit and the annual International LGBTQ+ Travel Association convention. These are big events with a big audience; hosting them allows us to really step onto the world stage as a serious destination with great resources.
What’s new in Puerto Rico’s hotel and cruise scene?
El Ponce Intercontinental will reopen as a Sonesta, The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan will reopen in 2024, and Nayara Resorts is coming to Puerto Rico in 2024. Hard Rock Hotels is also coming to Puerto Rico, in Old San Juan. The ports of San Juan are in the process of undergoing major infrastructure upgrades and renovations, and there has been talk about several additional luxury liners homeporting in San Juan.
It sounds like there are lots of reasons to be optimistic.
Future booking pace is looking good, the airlines are bullish about bringing new routes to Puerto Rico, and we’re going to be out there with Live Boricua, talking to more people than ever. So, we’re all very excited about the future of Puerto Rico — we believe the best days are in front of us.
