Strong visitor arrivals to Hawai'i in February pushed up statewide hotel occupancy for the second month in a row after a decline that had lasted more than 1.5 years, according to a report issued today.

Hawai'i's hotels were 83.4 percent full in February, a 3.1 percentage-point increase from the same month a year earlier, according to data compiled by Smith Travel Research and Hospitality Advisors LLC.

The trend also brought higher rates. The average daily room rate rose again in February, growing by 5.3 percent to $214, a new record high for the month of February. Revenue per available room, a key gauge of a hotel operator's performance, rose by 9.3 percent to $178.37, another all-time high for the month.

Hospitality Advisors President Joseph Toy said the increase was fueled by a big increase in visitors from Canada — up 31.6 percent — convention-goers, sports travel and an upswing in independent travelers.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism reported last week that visitors arrivals — got an extra leap day for the month — and rose 5.9 percent to 603,689 visitors. Still, excluding the extra leap-year day, those arrivals still rose 2.8 percent.

Toy said that hotels across all islands saw higher occupancy in February. Maui again led the way with a 2.9 percentage point increase to 84.8 percent.

The survey included 157 properties representing 467,426 rooms, or 83.9 percent of all lodging properties with 20 rooms or more including hotels and condominium hotels. The state estimates that there are a total of 72,516 visitor units statewide with about half, or 34,000, on O'ahu.