Puerto Rico lodging revenue is all the way back, and then some

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Puerto Rico says lodging revenue for
the first four months of 2019 reached its highest level in eight years. Compared
with the same period in 2017 (before Category 5 Hurricane Maria devastated the
island in September 2017), that’s a 12% increase. 

Speaking at the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW conference
here, Discover Puerto Rico CEO Brad Dean said that lodging spending of $373.6
million was driven by a rise in vacation rental property bookings, which
accounted for 23% of the jump, and strong passenger arrivals, which at 1.5
million is on par with pre-Maria levels. 

“There is an unprecedented rate of recovery underway in
Puerto Rico,” Dean said.

Like other islands damaged by hurricanes Maria and Irma in
2017, short-term vacation rentals in Puerto Rico helped fill a void left by
shuttered hotels. There are now 10,000 short-term rentals on the island. 

Hotels yet to open in Puerto Rico include the Ritz-Carlton
San Juan; Las Casitas Villas, a Waldorf Astoria Resort; the Hyatt Hacienda del
Mar; and Melia Coco Beach. All are slated to reopen this year. El Conquistador,
a Waldorf Astoria Resort will reopen in 2020. The W Vieques still has no plans
to reopen. 

New hotels on the horizon include two Alofts, the island’s
first Four Seasons in Cayo Largo and the Zafira St. Clair in Vieques.

Puerto Rico’s meeting-and-incentives industry is also exceeding
pre-Maria levels, with 2019 leads and bookings in that space the highest they
have been in five years, Dean said.