By the Caribbean Journal staff

Caribbean hotel occupancy numbers surged in February, according to the latest data from hotel analytics firm STR Inc.

The region’s occupancy rose to 81.8 percent in February, a 5.2 percent improvement over the same month in 2014.

That was also tied for the largest single-month increase in the region since 2012 (hotel occupancy also rose by 5.2 percent in December 2014).

In the same period, the region’s average daily rate rose 3.5 percent to $240.36 in February, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 8.9 percent to $196.51, according to the report.

So far, hotel occupancy is up 3.4 percent for 2015, while average daily rate and RevPAR are up 3.5 percent and 7 percent, respectively this year.

STR’s data surveyed 1,917 hotels comprising 228,211 rooms in the wider Caribbean region.