According to an industry survey conducted by Hospitality Advisors and Smith Travel Research, Hawaii's hotel occupancy increased in January, climbing 3.4% from the same period a year ago to 66.5%.
Statewide hotel occupancy figures have now shown year-over-year growth in four out of the past five months.
Room rates across the islands, however, continued to fall, dropping 10.4% from January 2009 to a statewide average of $176.88 a night. Statewide, room revenue for January was $206.7 million, off $9.3 million from last year, according to Hospitality Advisors estimates.
Hotel occupancy on Oahu was 72.1% for the month, up 3.9%, while room rates there sank 8.3% to an islandwide average of $149.18 a night -- the lowest in the state.
Maui enjoyed the largest occupancy increase, jumping 7.7% year over year to 67.5% islandwide. Room rates across the Valley Isle plunged 17.2%, however, to a per-night average of $228.73.
Kauai saw the smallest change in occupancy, dropping just 1.8% from a year ago to 54.3%. Garden Isle room rates also saw only a slight decline, off just $5 from 2009 at $193.86 a night.
The average cost of a room on the Big Island was $187.27 in January, sinking 7.1% from last year. Occupancy there was 53.2%, dipping just 2% year over year.