By Gay Nagle Myers From Travel Weekly

Hotel occupancy levels last year were the lowest in the Caribbean since 2012, but the average daily rate (ADR) was the highest for any year on record, according to data from STR.

Occupancy dipped 1.1% last year, to 65.2%, while ADR rose 1.7%, to $207.61.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the year was $135.46, a slight decline of 0.6% over 2017 figures.

“Markets affected by the hurricanes of 2017 are recovering at a pace faster than what we’ve seen historically with previous hurricanes, such as Katrina and even Harvey,” said Rico Louw, STR’s client account manager.

“Investment in the region is strong, with nearly 100 projects in the pipeline that are expected to yield an additional 22,000 rooms in the next three to five years,” he said. “Continued performance growth is projected for the U.S. hotel industry, and the Caribbean hopes to mirror that trend.”

March 2018 was the Caribbean’s top-performing for occupancy (74%) and RevPAR ($190.78) while December produced the highest ADR level ($262.97). September was the lowest month for hotel occupancy (48.9%), RevPAR ($75.08) and ADR ($153.60).

STR’s current database shows more than 1,900 hotels and 250,000 rooms in the Caribbean.

For more on this story go to: https://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Hotel-rates-up-in-2018-Caribbean-STR-says