Hawaii hotel occupancy 81%

Hawaii's popularity as a place to ring in a new year brought it a respectable 81 percent hotel occupancy factor for the seven days through Jan. 6, far better than most other places.
The figure was 99.8 percent of what registered a year earlier, and came with room rates up an average 19.1 percent, Hospitality Advisors reported Friday in its first weekly snapshot of 2007.
Kauai occupancy was closer to these Mainland markets but even the Garden Island saw improvement from the same time last year.
Room rates soared in all operating counties. Oahu rates blew past $200 a night and Maui went well above $300 a night. Across much of the state, average room rates were double rates on the Mainland.
Around the islands:
Oahu: 83.4 percent, down 2.7 percentage points from New Year's week a year ago. The average room rate was $210, up 14.4 percent from then.
Maui: 81.6 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from a year ago. Average room rate soared 24 percent to nearly $323 a night.
Kauai: 67 percent, up 2.9 points from last year at the same time. The average room rate rose 24 percent to $263 a night.
Big Island: 81.1 percent, up 4.5 points. Hawaii County saw the biggest year-to-year improvement in occupancy despite room rates rising 18 percent to more than $247 a night.
For the same period, Los Angeles hotels were only 60.1 percent full, San Diego occupancy was at 50.1 percent, Orlando was at 68.5 percent, and national occupancy was 46.2 percent, Smith Travel Research reported this week.