By the Caribbean Journal staff

Caribbean hotels managed to build some strong momentum to close out 2018, according to the latest data from analytics firm STR.

The region’s hotel occupancy stood at 63.7 percent last month, a 1.7 percent increase compared to December 2017.

That was the second highest monthly increase for the region of any month last year, and one of just two months of positive year-over-year occupancy growth.

Average daily rates rose by 3.6 percent to $262.97, while revenue per available room surged by 5.4 percent to $167.40.

For the year, Caribbean hotel occupancy saw an overall decline of 1.1 percent to 65.2 percent, while average daily rates were up 1.7 percent to $207.61 and RevPar was up by 0.6 percent to $135.46.

STR’s data surveyed 1,992 hotels comprising 256,823 rooms in the wider Caribbean region.

— CJ