Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, October 27, 2026 — Puerto Vallarta expects hotel occupancy of about 95% during the coming Día de Muertos weekend, municipal tourism director Alejandra Cornejo says.
Cornejo forecast “a large influx of tourists into our city,” speaking in Spanish. The projection comes as businesses prepare for a holiday program centered on the Malecón and downtown public spaces.
For people living and working here, the practical question is straightforward: What should a nearly full hotel sector change about plans for the coming weekend?
The figure gives businesses a reason to review staffing, supplies and reservations now. For residents expecting visiting friends or planning an evening downtown, it also makes advance arrangements sensible.
That number can only guide those decisions so precisely. Cornejo’s estimate remains a forecast, and the report does not identify the hotels included or explain how it calculated the projection. It also provides no estimate of visitor spending.
Mexico’s tourism statistics system, DataTur, defines hotel occupancy as occupied rooms relative to available rooms. A 95% rate would therefore represent roughly 95 occupied rooms for every 100 available across the measured hotel market. Individual properties can perform differently.
For a restaurant, for example, that forecast is a useful prompt to check supplier deliveries and staff coverage before the weekend begins. Whether additional hotel guests translate into more customers will depend on where those visitors stay and how they spend their time.
The festival calendar helps identify where some of that activity may concentrate.
Puerto Vallarta’s tourism office lists the main Festival de las Almas celebrations for Saturday, October 31, through Monday, November 2, with 28 free experiences around the Malecón and Centro Histórico. Additional activities extend beyond those three days.
That creates opportunities for residents to join the celebrations alongside visitors. It also gives downtown businesses specific locations and dates to prepare for, rather than relying entirely on a citywide occupancy percentage.
The Jalisco tourism department’s programme includes an exhibition of 50 catrinas along the Malecón beginning Wednesday, October 28. The monumental Catrina unveiling is scheduled for Sunday, November 1, at 7 p.m. at the Malecón lighthouse.
For someone combining that Sunday event with dinner in Centro, booking a table and arranging the journey home beforehand would remove two decisions from the evening. Vallarta Daily’s Day of the Dead calendar and costs guide brings together the wider celebration dates for readers coordinating their plans.
The preparations also need to extend beyond Sunday. Jalisco’s program schedules the November 2 parade from the Panteón Municipal 5 de Diciembre to the Playa Los Muertos pier. For businesses near that route, Monday evening belongs on the holiday staffing calendar too.
