Puerto Rico tourism on pace for record year-end
Puerto Rico’s tourism sector is closing out 2025 with strong momentum, as the island’s booking pace for accommodations between October and March shows double-digit growth in both hotels and short-term rentals, according to Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s destination marketing organization.
The organization’s CEO, Jorge L. Pérez, said the industry’s performance this year underscores its role as a key driver of the island’s economic transformation.
“Puerto Rico is experiencing an extraordinary moment. We have reinvented ourselves. We’re breaking records and demonstrating that tourism is not only an economic engine but also a transformative force for the entire island,” Pérez said during Discover Puerto Rico’s Industry Update. “2025 is poised to set a record. And I assure you of one thing: This is just the beginning.”
This year’s results reflect steady expansion across major tourism indicators, including 5% growth in passenger arrivals, a 10% rise in accommodation revenue, a 9% increase in room night demand and a 5% uptick in employment in the sector.
The cruise industry is also showing strong recovery, with Clarivette Díaz, general manager of San Juan Cruise Ports, saying passenger traffic is expected to reach nearly 1.7 million by year’s end and surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2026.
“This success confirms the cruise lines’ renewed confidence in Puerto Rico and the tangible results of the improvements we are implementing,” Díaz said.
She noted that more than $150 million has been invested in terminal modernization, including an initial $75 million payment, to accommodate larger vessels such as the Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas.
Discover Puerto Rico’s vice president of marketing, Glorianna Yamín, outlined upcoming promotional efforts aimed at sustaining momentum through early 2026. These include partnerships with Pandora and The New York Times to showcase Puerto Rican musical culture, as well as campaigns highlighting small businesses in the tourism sector.
Efforts with Expedia and other online platforms will feature special lodging offers, while a holiday collaboration with “El Mundo de Nana y Nina,” an animated project sharing Puerto Rican culture through children’s stories, will debut in November.
Puerto Rico’s meetings and conventions segment is also expanding, with the island set to host the SITE Classic, one of the incentive travel industry’s top events, and EduCon, the Professional Convention Management Association’s flagship conference, next June. Both are expected to generate multimillion-dollar impacts on the local economy.
