By the Caribbean Journal staff

October was the strongest month for the Caribbean hotel sector in all of 2014, according to a new report from hotel analytics firm STR.

The region’s hotel occupancy grew by 4.1 percent, the single-biggest improvement of any month since December 2013, a sign that the industry could be picking up steam ahead of the 2014-2015 winter tourist season.

Hotel occupancy stood at 55.9 percent for the typically slow month of October, up from 53.8 percent in October 2013.

Last month was also the sixth straight month in which the region saw a year-over-year increase in occupancy numbers.

For the year, occupancy stands at 67.6 percent for the year, a 0.9 percent increase over the first 10 months of 2013.

The region also saw solid growth in average daily rate and revenue per available room last month, with increases of 4.4 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.

STR’s data surveyed 1,885 hotels comprising 224,380 rooms in the Caribbean region.