Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Despite the fact that Puerto Vallarta hotels have increased their rates, the city expects to receive conservatively about 24,000 people during the summer vacation period - and that's just in the tourism sector. "That's if only two people stay in rooms that usually house three or four guests," said Rodolfo Pacheco Hernandez, the president of the city's Association of Hotels and Motels.

Puerto Vallarta has 12,000 rooms, and when you add condominiums and timeshares, this tourist destination has around 22,000 rooms available for national tourists during the summer vacation period.

In an interview with aznoticias.mx, Rodolfo Pacheco said, "we are working against a steep rate increase (5-8 percent) at a time of year when the rates are typically high... this year in particular with the rate increase, which has not happened in the past three years."

He went on to say, "But this year's numbers are very positive... despite the higher room rates, we are seeing an increase in occupancy, in airport arrivals, and in the number of tourists overall, so we are expecting a great summer vacation season."

Significantly, tourist arrivals through June increased by 14% at the airport, and it is estimated that the same number of tourists arrived by land, particularly by car, but also those traveling by bus.

"Since summer tourism numbers were already positive by June, the summer season is looking good. If this trend continues we can exceed the numbers achieved in 2008 - the year that Puerto Vallarta had the best tourism figures in every sense," Rodolfo Pacheco Hernandez concluded.