Hawaii hotel occupancy fell slightly in 2018, but revenue continued to climb as higher room rates made up for the fewer filled rooms.

Occupancy was down 0.4 percentage point in 2018 compared with 2017, according to a hotel report released by STR, a data and analytics specialist.

The 79.8 percent full-year occupancy was based on the strength of Hawaii’s hotel market through May, which helped offset the statewide occupancy drops that occurred in June and every month after.

While occupancy was down, hotels managed to increase their average daily room rate (ADR), which finished the year above $278, a more than 5 percent gain over 2017.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose almost 5 percent to nearly $222. RevPAR measures the amount of revenue a hotel earns for every room regardless of its occupancy status.

Statewide hotel revenue, which dropped from October to December, rose nearly 5 percent to finish the year at $4.4 billion.

The year-end results weren’t bad considering the tourism troubles that began piling up in the back half of 2018. Still, hoteliers worry that 2019 may be affected by the lack of carryover momentum from 2018.

In December, ADR grew more than 4 percent to just over $332, and RevPAR stayed about flat at nearly $252. Revenue dropped more than 1 percent to just over $415 million. Statewide occupancy in December dropped 2.9 percentage points to 75.8 percent — the worst December occupancy since 2014.

Joseph Toy, president and CEO of Hospitality Advisors LLC, said, “We saw some head winds coming into the fourth quarter. It’s still too early to tell what 2019 will look like, but ending on a softer note in December was worrisome.”

The slowdown was a departure from the bullish 2018 that hoteliers had anticipated on the basis of added air seats and economic strength. Storms and other hardships washed away much of the earlier bravado. First there was the April flooding that affected Oahu and devastated the north shore of Kauai.

Kilauea Volcano’s dramatic ramp up in eruptions from May to August harmed tourism on Hawaii island and the state since many visitors aren’t familiar with the geography of the Hawaiian Isles and didn’t realize the eruption’s effects were limited to a relatively small area.

Next came one of Hawaii’s most destructive hurricane seasons in years. Hurricanes Hector and Lane arrived in August, the same month that Japan, Hawaii’s largest international market, was battling Typhoon Jebi.

A 51-day strike at four Oahu hotels and one on Maui owned by Kyo-ya Hotels &Resorts and managed by Marriott also negatively affected the destination before it ended Nov. 27.

Keith Vieira, principal at KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said Hawaii’s hotel market is strong enough to offset one negative variable but tends to rebound less quickly when inundated with a multitude of problems.

These woes affected the isles differently. Oahu’s occupancy fell in December but was up for the year. However, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island experienced occupancy declines in December and for year-end occupancy.

All five major islands saw December and year-end ADR gains.

Oahu and Kauai realized revenue gains in December and for the year. On Maui, revenue fell in December but rose for the year. December and year-end revenue decreased on Hawaii island, which had to contend with the triple whammy of volcanic activity, earthquakes and bad weather. Closures at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park didn’t help, either.

“What happened in the back half of 2018 shows that some would-be travelers are not choosing Hawaii,” Vieira said. “We started this year with less momentum. We’ll need to step up marketing efforts and work on attracting higher-spending visitors to firm up the first quarter of 2019. There are signs that air seats are softening. We’ll need to work hard to maintain them.”