Above: the Cocos hotel in Antigua

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Antigua and Barbuda’s hotel sector is reporting its best first quarter since 2007, according to the Antigua Hotel and Tourist Association.

Overall, Antigua’s hotel occupancy is up 1.4 percent for the year compared to the same period in 2013, something AHTA Chairman Andrew Hedley said “really reflects a trend for the season where we really saw an overall increase in occupancy.”

“We have worked hard, for the last few years in very tough times for the industry and we are delighted to start to see the results working in partnership with all of our hotels, airline partners and tour operators,” Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Minister John Maginley said in a statement.

Hotel occupancy for Antigua and Barbuda stood at 71.2 percent at the end of March, according to data released by the Antigua Hotel and Tourist Association.

In January, for example, hotel bookings in Antigua reached a five-year high, leading Maginley to declare at the time that Antigua was on the verge of a “tourism turnaround.”