Hotel occupancy almost 82%

From Pacific Business News

Three of the four major islands saw their hotels remain almost full in the first week of 2006.

Statewide hotel occupancy for Jan. 1-7 was 81.9 percent, an improvement of 5.3 percentage points from the first week of last year. Average room rates rose more than 20 percent. Kauai was less than two thirds full, but Maui and the Big Island saw occupancy above 81 percent while Oahu was almost 86 percent full. Room rates rose everywhere, Hospitality Advisors LLC reported Friday.

Nationally during the same week, hotel occupancy was only 46.1 percent and room rates were below $93 a night on average -- and that was an 8.2 percent improvement from a year ago, Smith Travel Research LLC reported.