“As we approach the end of 2023, it’s clear that our island’s tourism industry continues to set records and lead both the U.S. mainland and the Caribbean region in key tourism metrics,” Dean said in a webinar with reporters. “In terms of visitor demand, lodging yields, tourism tax collections, and leisure hospitality employment, the three best years of Puerto Rico tourism have been 2021, 2022, and 2023.”

“With the cruise industry recovering and international travel growing, we are successfully positioning our island to grow in both of those spaces, while doubling down on core markets and emerging markets with targeted high-impact promotion and publicity designed to elevate our success and performance,” the CEO said.

Airline tickets purchased outside the island, with Puerto Rico as their destination, increased by 25% for the current fourth quarter of 2023 and by 53% for the first quarter of 2024, according to data from the analytics firm Forward Keys.

Emerging markets identified by the organisation, such as Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Toronto, are now among the top origins for travellers planning trips to Puerto Rico for the first quarter of 2024 after experiencing huge increases in ticket sales to the island.

Contrary to industry projections of a slowdown by the end of 2023, Puerto Rico “defies international economic challenges,” setting new benchmarks in the tourism and hospitality sectors, Dean said. Instead of “succumbing to the international economic headwinds,” Puerto Rico is on track to set, for the third consecutive year, new records in demand and lodging income, room tax collections, and jobs in the leisure and accommodations sectors, he added.

Puerto Rico has witnessed a remarkable uptick in its tourism sector, with accommodation demand in September climbing 10% above the same period in 2022. This increase was more pronounced in short-term rentals (14.6%) than in hotels (7.5%).