Puerto Rico is seeing a jump in meetings and convention business, according to the latest numbers released by Meet Puerto Rico.

The March-to-May period saw 57 new booked pieces of business including events, conferences, annual meetings and sports activities from now through 2017.

That represents a total projected spend of around $20.4 million into the local economy, according to Milton Segarra, president and CEO of Meet Puerto Rico.

Meet Puerto Rico is the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) responsible for attracting meetings, conventions, trade shows, sporting events and incentive groups to Puerto Rico.

“The groups and conventions segment in Puerto Rico is a major driver in the tourism industry,” Segarra said. “Groups booked range from multinational companies, to medical, educational conferences and sporting events, among others. An estimated 25,000 new hotel-room nights in total have been booked.”

Segarra said the numbers showed “the confidence the meetings industry has in Puerto Rico and how our (MPR and our members) very focused educational efforts have paid off.”