Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Given the number of travelers arriving by air and high hotel occupancy rates during the holiday season, Puerto Vallarta is once again positioned to close the year as one of national and international visitors’ favorite tourist destinations.
During the last month of the year, Puerto Vallarta achieved an average of 75% in hotel occupancy, an increase of 26% compared to last year when 49% of rooms were booked in December. During the Christmas vacation period alone (December 20 to January 5), it is estimated that Puerto Vallarta hotel occupancy will reach 81%.
In December 2021, the Puerto Vallarta International Airport welcomed a total of 2,432 flights from national and international markets, of which 1,158 were from the United States, 998 from Mexico, 266 from Canada and 15 from Europe. This represents a remarkable increase of 49% compared to the results of 2020 and of 15% when compared to the same period in 2019, prior to the global crisis caused by Covid-19, thus setting a record for the number of tourist arrivals.
It is important to mention that, in 2021, Puerto Vallarta recovered almost all of the air frequencies that operated in 2019. Currently the city’s air terminal, in which $450,956,000 Pesos were invested this year, is among the nation’s Top 10 airports with the most air traffic, offering flights from 20 different airlines that service 40 destinations, 11 national and 29 international, which are broken down into 19 from the United States, 10 from Canada and 2 from Europe.
In the same way, the favorable tourist recovery in Puerto Vallarta helped the destination to close the month of December with numbers higher than those of 2019 in economic spillover, expecting more than 930 million pesos, compared to the 675 million pesos generated during the same month two years ago.
The collaborative work between state and municipal authorities and the private sector to carry out strategic actions with the objective of mitigating Covid-19 allowed this tourist destination to operate at 100% of its hotel capacity, in addition to greater flexibility in capacity in restaurants, bars and other establishments.
Likewise, this effort has allowed the return of international cruises to Puerto Vallarta. Around 80 ships arrived during 2021, counting from its reactivation last August. For 2022, reservation numbers are expected to be similar to those of 2019, although everything will depend on the pace of the pandemic worldwide.
Without a doubt, 2021 was a year of great recognition for Puerto Vallarta. Last November the destination won four Travvy Awards, also known as the Academy Awards of the international tourism industry, winning gold medals for “Best Destination for Honeymoons in Mexico”, “Best Culinary Destination in Mexico” and “Best Tourist Office in Mexico”; as well as silver in the “Best Destination in Mexico” category.
During that same month, Vallarta received the PriceTravel EVM award for “Best Beach Destination Promotion Campaign 2021,” a recognition that congratulates the best in the tourism industry. Also, during the year, Puerto Vallarta has positioned itself as the preferred destination for national and international travelers during special dates such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, to name a few, according to data from companies such as Expedia, Allianz Partners, ForwardKeys, among others.
The promotional and public relations efforts, which have been carried out throughout the year by the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Promotion and Advertising Trust, have greatly influenced travelers to choose ‘the Green Pearl of the Mexican Pacific’ as their favorite destination.
Hence, Puerto Vallarta closes 2021 with excellent results in terms of tourism, and excellent expectations that the destination will continue to be a leader at the national level in 2022, thanks to the great diversity of experiences it has to offer visitors from every walk of life.
Source: Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust press release