By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Caribbean hotel industry rebounded strongly in November, according to the latest data from STR.

Hotel occupancy in the region rose by 3.6 percent year-over-year in November, the industry’s strongest month since May. Caribbean hotel occupancy had seen year-over-year declines for four of the past five months.

Overall, occupancy stood at 66.8 percent, up from 64.4 percent in November 2012. For the year, Caribbean hotel occupancy is now up by 2 percent to 67.2 percent from January to November.

The region’s average daily rate rose by 3.6 percent as well, improving to $156.49.

And it was an even stronger month for RevPar, or revenue per available room, with a 7.4 percent increase last month, the largest single-month increase since May. For the year, RevPar is up 7.3 percent to $121.26.

Overall revenue rose by 8.2 percent year-over-year in November, with a total of more than $704 million and a January-November total of more than $9 billion.

STR’s data surveys almost 1,900 properties covering 224,642 rooms in the region. STR looks at the Caribbean and Bermuda in its reports.