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The pace of bookings augurs solid growth for the last quarter of 2024

Thursday, August 15, 2024 Article

Preliminary reports suggest that the passage of Storm Ernesto through Puerto Rico has altered the pace of reservations for these months.

Accommodation bookings for the last three months of the year augur sustained growth for the Puerto Rican tourism industry, especially for short-term rentals that register year-on-year increases of between 10% and 24%.

Hotels, meanwhile, have increased reservation rates by between 1% and 9%, according to a market analysis by Discover Puerto Rico published in the most recent Update Report for the Industry. It is not yet known if the pace of reservations was affected by the close passage of storm Ernesto during these months.

"The projections until August 2 are positive for both hotels and rentals. Hotels had no growth in September, improved in October and November, and increased by 9.4% in December bookings. Rentals also have more bookings than last year, and we see a strengthened demand in this sector for the remainder of 2024," said Laressa Morales, Director of Research and Analysis at Discover Puerto Rico.

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These reservation growths are in addition to the increase that the industry accumulated in the first seven months of the year due to increases in the demand for accommodation, which in the case of hotels was 3% and rents 15%.

The level of bookings is recorded despite changes in travelers' behavior. According to surveys by the firm Future Partners, travelers are now more inclined to take advantage of offers and discounts and find more value for the money they invest. Added to this is the opening of destinations in Asian and Latin American markets.

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"As new challenges and new travel patterns adjust, Discover Puerto Rico and the industry adjusts to continue the growth of our industry that already employs more than 100,000 people," said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico.

Accommodation revenues between January and July reached $1,282 million, a year-on-year growth of 8%. The rise is, in part, sustained by historical accommodation rates. Between January and July, the average daily rate was $310 for hotels and $243 for rentals, according to data analyzed from the STR and AirDNA platforms. This implies year-on-year growth of 2% and 0.4%, respectively.

Preliminary reports suggest that the passage of Storm Ernesto through Puerto Rico has altered the pace of reservations for these months.

The increases compensate, in part, for the slowdown in hotel demand in July, which resulted from fewer people arriving for events and conventions that month compared to 2023. This industrial sector closed the 2023-24 fiscal year with an increase in hotel nights of 22% and an economic impact of $187 million.