November was not kind to Oahu hotels, with occupancy falling below 80 percent for the first time since March 2017.

It didn’t help that workers at four of Waikiki’s major beachfront hotels owned by Kyo-ya Hotels &Resorts and operated by Marriott were involved in a 51-day strike.

The strike, which affected some 2,700 hotel workers, stretched from Oct. 8 to Nov. 27 and caused declines in hotel bookings and led to cancellations. The related closure of some food and beverage venues and other money-making services also caused drops in spending.

Oahu occupancy dropped to 79.4 percent, according to a Hawaii hotel report to be released today by STR, a hotel data company.

Oahu’s average daily room rate was flat at nearly $218.91, but revenue per available room, a key measure of profitability, fell just over 3 percent to nearly $173.87, its largest dip since September 2017. Oahu’s hotel revenue decreased nearly 5 percent to about $154 million.

Hawaii island was the other laggard when it came to November hotel performance. Weather concerns and the volcanic eruption have cleared up, but hoteliers say the new issue is that despite the reopening of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, there’s no lava to see.

Hawaii island continued its downward trend with the worst performance of all islands. Occupancy was down 9 percent to 67.2 percent. The average daily room rate rose more than 4 percent to $238.36, but revenue per available room declined 5 percent to $160.15.

Maui and Kauai had good November runs but also experienced occupancy drops of 2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. The strike affected one hotel on Maui.

“November wasn’t a good month for Hawaii hotels,” said Keith Vieira, principal of KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting. “It continued the downturn that started with the eruption of Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii island in May, then came the hurricanes, then the strike. We also had wildfires in California and cyclones in Japan. To some degree, all of these things have affected the whole state.”

Overall, the state realized a 3.4 percent decline in occupancy to 75.8 percent, the worst occupancy level since November 2016. The average daily room rate grew 3.4 percent to $250.98 and revenue per available room was nearly flat at $190.13. Revenues dipped 1.7 percent to just over $303 million, their lowest since September 2017.

“November is traditionally one of the slowest months of the year for hotels on Oahu,” said Duke Ah Moo, Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort’s vice president and commercial director for Hawaii. “This year, demand for the destination may have been negatively impacted by the wildfires in California and labor strikes in Waikiki. In addition, there were no major citywide conventions in town this November, whereas last year the American Medical Association met at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.”

Casey Anderson, senior marketing manager at Hilton Waikoloa Village, said the resort and other hotels on Hawaii island benefited from a Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau communication plan to address the Kilauea eruption.

“We got a drone in 2018 to promote the property. We were able to share the footage through HVCB’s Explore Island of Hawaii campaign, which gave us greater distribution. It really helped because we were able to show that the sky was blue and beautiful and it was safe to book,” Anderson said.

“Now that the eruption has stopped, our new challenge is showing people that there are many things to do outside of lava.”

Most of Hawaii’s hotel industry expects to have solid occupancy over the peak holiday season. However, Joe Toy, president and CEO of Hospitality Advisors LLC, is cautious about the future.

“By the tail-end of summer, concerns about the market were already being raised. What happened in November also indicates that things are looking less stable in the coming year,” Toy said.

Vieira said first-quarter hotel bookings are down and he expects the next “three to five months will be weak for Hawaii hotels.”

Toy said the state of the U.S. economy, which is shaky, will play a significant factor in hotel performance since declines in consumer confidence tend to impact hotel occupancy, especially for long-haul destinations like Hawaii.

“We’ve definitely got some headwinds,” he said.