Speaking on the first day of the event, director, Routes, UBM Emea Katie Bland said there had been an 88% increase in attendance compared to 2014.

She added the event was being attended by 755 delegates, representing more than 90 airlines, 239 airports and 40 tourism bodies.

“Air services are the life blood of the modern economy, it connects people and places,” Bland added.

Puerto Rico Tourism Company executive director Ingrid Rivera Rocafort said the event is being hosted on the island as it sees its own tourism resurgence. As many as 9.3 million people are expected to use its airports this year after the figure fell below 8 million in 2010.

She said the growth had been helped by a $750 million programme of improvements undertaken at the San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International airport by Aerostar Airport Holdings, which began operating the facility in 2013.

Meanwhile, a further 4,000 rooms are currently under development on the island Rivera said as the government continues to focus on its key tourism industry.

She added: “The tourism industry in Puerto Rico is completely out of recession, it will be followed by manufacturing and agriculture but it was the first one that came out.

“It wasn’t because of serendipity, it (tourism) works.”