By the Caribbean Journal staff

It’s been a sluggish start for the region’s hotel sector in 2018, with occupancy declining again in February, according to new data released this week by hotel analytics firm STR.

The Caribbean’s hotel occupancy saw a 2.7 percent regional decline in February, compared to the same month in 2017, which followed a 1.2 percent decrease in January.

Average daily rates were largely flat, with just a 0.2 percent reduction, while revenue per available room fell by 2.9 percent to $180.28 in the same period.

STR’s data surveyed 1,953 hotels in the region comprising some 251,227 rooms in the wider Caribbean-Mexico portfolio.