In five years, 6.4 billion pesos have been invested in the airport expansion works, essential to receive a greater number of tourists.
With significant infrastructure investments being made in Puerto Vallarta, such as the expansion of the airport and the renovation of the International Convention Center, the destination seeks to position itself in the meetings industry.
In a conference, Laura Suárez, director of Meetings Tourism of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust, explained that in five years 6.4 billion pesos have been invested in the airport expansion works, essential to receive a greater number of tourists.Likewise, an investment of 17,916.2 million pesos has been made for the new Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta highway, which will reduce the travel time by road from the states of the Center-West of the country to increase the influx towards the most important beach destination. from Jalisco.
In 2023, she added, Puerto Vallarta received 50 events at the International Convention Center and, to date, 40 have been completed; They plan to close 2024 with around 70.The directive specified that 80% of the congresses and conventions that take place in the destination are national; However, they are developing strategies to attract international visitors.She also explained that the convention center has a capacity of more than 200 stands inside, 21 simultaneous meeting rooms and 30,000 meters of multifunctional space for events. The total area is 110,000 square meters.“We work hand in hand, we are made up of a cluster in Puerto Vallarta and it is specialized (…) also through the state government, which is where we depend, but with the Private Initiative, with the local government, also to facilitate the experiences,” she said in an interview.Regarding the challenges, Laura Suárez emphasized that one of the main ones is positioning the destination in all segments.“We are the second city with the best perception of security (…) we are a very friendly destination. We live 95% of tourism,” she said.“Puerto Vallarta is a place for all segments, especially very familiar in the leisure segment, but also specialized today following the opening of the convention center for groups,” she added.According to Laura Suárez, Puerto Vallarta has a hotel offering of more than 22,000 rooms.According to information from the state government, from 2019 to April the destination has grown between 5 and 15% in the different indicators; For example, in influx, in 2023 compared to 2019 there was an increase of 32%, and compared to 2022 around 3 percent. fertility, mortality and distribution of the population, indigenous population, internal migration, international migration, infant mortality,
and the number of inhabitants of Mexico, which in 2023 was 129.5 million people: 51.7% were women and 48.3% were men.Source: El Economista
