Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco — According to preliminary tallies and year-end projections, Puerto Vallarta will conclude 2024 with 167 international cruise ship arrivals, marking a 6% decrease from initial forecasts and reflecting seven fewer arrivals than recorded last year. Passenger numbers are also anticipated to fall short of early estimates, with a final count comparable to the previous year rather than the significant increase originally projected.
Data from the Mexican Navy (Semar) show that through the first 11 months of 2024, Puerto Vallarta received 145 cruise ship arrivals and a total of 473,697 passengers. During the same period in 2023, the city had recorded 161 arrivals and 505,670 passengers. However, a stronger showing in December 2024, with an estimated 22 additional cruise calls and an expected 72,000 passengers, will bring the full-year totals to approximately 167 arrivals and around 545,000 passengers.
While the year-end figures represent a recovery compared to the earlier part of the year, they remain notably lower than the initial forecast. Semar’s preliminary data for 2024 anticipated 178 arrivals and more than 689,000 passengers. Throughout the year, the actual results failed to match these early expectations. For example, in January, more than 90,000 passengers were forecast, yet only about 73,000 were recorded. Similar shortfalls continued during subsequent high-season months, with differences ranging between 6,000 and 14,000 fewer passengers than projected.
During the low season, the discrepancies persisted. In August, for instance, the preliminary estimate of 28,000 passengers contrasted sharply with an actual count closer to 19,000. In October, a month traditionally considered part of the returning high season, more than 69,000 passengers were forecast, but actual figures fell short at nearly 56,000.
Despite the lower-than-expected overall numbers, average occupancy per vessel has shown improvement. Last year, Puerto Vallarta averaged 3,124 passengers per cruise ship. By November 2024, that figure had risen to 3,266 passengers, although this is still less than the 3,872 initially predicted at the start of the year.
