Puerto Rico’s record tourism in ’24 had $18B impact
Puerto Rico’s tourism sector reached a record in 2024, attracting 7.5 million nonresident visitors and 4.2 million local travelers for a combined 11.7 million tourists, according to Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company that tracks the island’s performance for Discover Puerto Rico.
Nonresident visitors spent an average of $1,009 per trip, while local travelers spent about $939. Combined spending totaled $11.6 billion in direct revenue — $11.5 billion from visitors and $100 million from cruise activities. Including indirect ($2.6 billion) and induced ($3.8 billion) effects, tourism’s total economic impact was $18 billion.
Spending by nonresident visitors reached a record $7.6 billion, a $986 million (15%) increase from 2023. Overall visitor spending rose 14% year over year, contributing $1.3 billion to state and local tax revenue.
Of the 5.7 million nonresident overnight guests, 1.9 million stayed in hotels and 3.8 million chose short-term rentals, private homes or other accommodations. Another 1.7 million were day-trippers, including cruise passengers and military personnel.
Local tourism accounted for 4.2 million trips, with 15% of residents staying in hotels and most choosing other lodging.
The food and beverage sector generated $4.6 billion in output, followed by lodging ($2.1 billion) and air travel ($1.9 billion). Tourism directly supports more than 91,000 jobs — 9.6% of Puerto Rico’s workforce — and indirectly sustains 141,000 jobs. The sector’s gross domestic product contribution totaled $8.6 billion in 2024.
Air travel trends
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan handled 691,000 passenger arrivals in July, down 1% from July 2023 but 43% above pre-pandemic levels and 2.3% higher than the three-year average.
From January to July, the airport processed 4.3 million arrivals, a 5% increase from the same period in 2023. North America accounted for 85.4% of arrivals, its lowest share since 2019, amid growth from South America (53%, 86,000 arrivals), Europe (18%, 62,000) and Central America (15%, 68,000).
Aeroméxico plans to start direct flights from Mexico City to San Juan on Oct. 27, expanding options for leisure and business travelers.
