Jalisco expects Puerto Vallarta tourism to rebound this winter as bookings rise. The city’s airport handled 19.8% fewer passengers in October.
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, November 11, 2026 – Jalisco Tourism Secretary Michelle Fridman says rising bookings and a busy events calendar could bring Puerto Vallarta back to its usual visitor levels in December or January.
“We had a lot of events and a big jump in bookings,” Fridman told Radio Fórmula in a report published Tuesday. She credited advertising, promotional trips and partnerships with helping bring travelers back. The report gave no booking totals or winter occupancy estimates for Vallarta.
Hotels got a lift over Día de Muertos. Daniel Torres, director of the Asociación de Hoteles y Moteles de Puerto Vallarta, put hotel occupancy at 83% for the Oct. 30–Nov. 2 holiday weekend. The city’s tourism office had projected about 95% heading into the weekend.
At the airport, October passenger traffic fell 19.8% from a year earlier, to 354,000. The month included a temporary closure as Hurricane Simón approached. Over the first 10 months of the year, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico’s figures show domestic passenger traffic down 5.2% and international traffic down 19.5%.
The year’s travel disruptions began during the last winter high season. Fires and roadblocks followed the Feb. 22 military operation that killed cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho. Airlines canceled 141 flights in two days, and local tourism businesses were still reporting fewer visitors in May.
This week, the Torneo Internacional de Pesca Marlín y Atún runs Nov. 11–14, with weigh-ins on the Marina Vallarta boardwalk. The Festival Gourmet Internacional opens Thursday at TierraLuna Gardens at Garza Blanca.
There’s also a new winter flight from Canada. Porter Airlines began flying nonstop from Edmonton on Nov. 3, with three flights a week scheduled through April 10.
