National Geographic has named Puerto Rico one of 25 destinations worldwide to visit in 2027 in its annual Best of the World selection, in a review of the island published Tuesday, October 20. The magazine highlights the island’s people and cultural traditions, rooted in African, Indigenous Taíno and Spanish influences in music, gastronomy and architecture.
It recommends visiting Loíza for the Afroboricua roots of bomba and plena, its dance and percussion workshops and the Festival de Santiago Apóstol; the kiosks of Piñones; the Ruta Taína and the Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes in Ponce; and the petroglyphs of Utuado and Jayuya. In Old San Juan it points to the fortifications of San Felipe el Morro and San Cristóbal and the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, held four days each January.
The magazine notes the international attention on Puerto Rican culture after Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show and his 2026 Grammy wins. The recognition comes amid tourism growth: Discover Puerto Rico projects tourist spending above $9 billion in 2026, up from an estimated $8.2 billion in 2025, when the island drew 8.1 million visitors.
Cruise passengers exceeded 1.9 million in fiscal year 2025-2026, up about 43%, with some 1.3 million passengers and 541 ship calls projected at the San Juan port through April 2027. Short-term rentals generate over $6 billion in economic impact across roughly 33,000 properties, per an Estudios Técnicos study, with advance bookings for December 2026 up 38% and January 2027 up 50%.