Above: the Laluna hotel in Grenada

By Alexander Britell

Caribbean hotel occupancy rose 7 percent in 2012, according to year-end data released Wednesday by STR.

Regional occupancy stood at 66.3 percent for the year, up from 61.9 percent at the end of 2011. That was a spike from a recent low of 59.4 percent in 2010, during the depths of the downturn.

Average daily rate also improved year over year, rising by 3.6 percent to $175.62, with revenue per available room improving by 11.1 percent to $116.42.

Total revenue in the region topped $9.45 billion, an 8.9 percent increase over 2011; March was the region’s best month in 2012, with total revenue of $1.12 billion.

Data from December showed 6.8 percent occupancy increase over December 2011, accompanied by a 1.5 percent rise in ADR and an 8.4 percent increase in Revpar.