(AP) — Hawaii has reported its hotel occupancy rates have declined by more than half in December compared to the same time in 2019, although the rates have gradually increased in recent months. Hawaii Tourism Authority data shows that 23.9% of hotel rooms in the state were full last month as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a decline of 56 percentage points compared to December 2019. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that December occupancy was in the low to mid-20% range for every major Hawaii island, except Kauai which dropped to 13.4%. Only Washington, D.C. had a lower hotel occupancy rate than Hawaii in the United States.

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