Tourism agency asks for $180M as lawmakers probe room‑tax uses and short‑term‑rental enforcement

The Puerto Rico Tourism Corporation told the House Finance Commission on May 7 that while room‑tax and gaming revenues have grown, much of that income is statutorily committed to other uses — including debt service, the convention district, and allocations to the destination marketing organization (DMO) — leaving a smaller operational envelope than headline numbers suggest.

The corporation said it is seeking approximately $180 million for FY2026–27 while the Fiscal Oversight Board recommended roughly $155.6 million. Officials said statutory commitments and programmatic earmarks reduce the agency’s available operating margin: a portion funds the convention district, a reserve for contingency, DMO annual allocations (recently about $28 million in supplemental transfers), cruise incentives and other mandates.

On tax compliance, the agency described two enforcement tracks. Marketplaces like Airbnb currently remit a share of short‑term‑rental tax directly (the agency reported it captures roughly 60% of the STR tax via marketplace remittances). Tourism said it will issue a request for proposals (RFP) for an AI‑driven monitoring platform to scan public listing data across platforms, match geolocation and IP signals, and flag possible unregistered rentals to CRIM and municipalities for follow‑up. Officials estimated procurement and evaluation could take two to three months after the RFP is issued.

The Tourism Corporation highlighted strong air and cruise indicators — projecting more than 1.8 million cruise passengers and record air passenger counts — and reported a current hotel inventory of about 16,000 rooms with approximately 2,800 additional rooms planned through 2028. It described incentive programs for cruise lines, airlines (marketing and landing‑fee arrangements) and events; the agency said it evaluates incentive offers against projected room‑nights, ticket sales and expected local spending to estimate return on investment.

“Una parte significativa se encuentra comprometida por disposiciones estatutarias,” the tourism director told the commission when explaining why growth in revenue does not translate into equivalent operating flexibility.

Lawmakers asked follow‑up questions about DMO transparency, the composition of the room‑tax split, the planned AI procurement to detect STR noncompliance, and infrastructure investments tied to visitor experience. Tourism officials said the planned AI tool will provide CRIM and municipalities with datasets to support localized enforcement and that they have an internal statistics unit tracking passenger, occupancy and event metrics.

The agency also described ongoing efforts to expand air routes and to support hotel development; its finance director said the board’s recommended budget constrains operational capacity and that the requested increase funds operating and capital needs tied to route development and municipal support.

The commission accepted the presentation and raised a series of follow‑up requests for documentation on DMO allocations, the RFP timeline and modeling of incentive ROI.