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New York
CNN
—
Bad Bunny’s two-month residency is expected to be good business for the once-bankrupt Puerto Rico.
On Friday, the musician kicks off a 30-date concert run in what’s a normally slow time for tourism on the island. However, the Puerto Rican-born superstar, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is giving the economy, hotel and flight bookings a much-needed boost.
Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s promotional agency, is forecasting Bad Bunny’s residency to generate nearly $200 million in economic impact and that’s on the conservative side. The firm’s preliminary estimate is only based on hotel packages that it booked with the concert’s production company and doesn’t reflect people booking hotels or rentals on their own.
In total, about 600,000 people are expected to visit Puerto Rico specifically for the concert, which is roughly double the number of visitors it usually gets, the tourism agency said.
Plus, those fans were quick to book hotels six months in advance, following Bad Bunny’s residency announcement in January. Typically, rooms during July through September are booked about two months in advance because travelers are cautious of the tropical conditions.
The hotel occupancy rate for July and August is nearly 70% ahead of the same time period last year, according to Discover Puerto Rico. September bookings are also 20% higher compared to 2024.
Searches for flights to Puerto Rico increased by 12% compared to the same time last year, according to Kayak, with airfares also rising 14% in that time span. The travel booking website told CNN that the top three states searching for Puerto Rico during the residency come from New York, Florida and California.
On Thursday, JetBlue announced it was a sponsor for the residency, a fitting tie-in since it’s the island’s biggest airline. An increase in ticket sales could prove particularly beneficial for the airline, which forecast soft bookings for the rest of the year.
Tickets for the “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí” residency sold out within hours of the January announcement. However, there’s plenty on the resale websites like StubHub, with tickets priced from $300 to $5,000. The show runs through September 14 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, which can seat up to 18,500 people.
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