Report: Oahu is the top sun destination
Jackie McKay of Banff, Canada, left, and Michelle Cruz of Mexico City, both seniors at St. Michael's University School in Victoria, British Columbia, watched surf break Friday at Sunset Beach on the North Shore. High surf warnings and advisories are in effect today across the Hawaiian islands.
Oahu ranked first in hotel occupancy for the year ending in December among isle and competing sun destinations, according to the Hawaii Competitive Global Rankings report by Hospitality Advisors LLC.
Oahu’s hotel occupancy rate was at 84.7 percent for the period. Puerto Rico was second, at 72.9 percent; Maui ranked third at 72.6 percent; Phuket, Thailand, also was at 72.6 percent; followed by Bali, at 69.8 percent; No. 6, Kauai was at 68.9 percent; No. 7 Aruba was at 67.7 percent; the Maldives, 64.8 percent; the Bahamas at 62.3 percent, and Hawaii island was at No. 10, with hotel occupancy of 62.0 percent for 2012.
The Bahamas showed the highest occupancy gain for the year, with a 5.5 percentage point increase over the previous year.
The report also examines revenue per available room ("RevPAR"), which the Maldives led with $392.95, nearly twice the rate of second-ranked French Polynesia.
All top ten Island and Sun destinations saw gains in so-called RevPAR, such as the 16.8 seen on Oahu, in fifth place on that ranking.
