GREAT BAY--St. Maarten’s hotel and timeshare sector recorded stronger overall occupancy during the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to figures provided to The People’s Tribune by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA).
The SHTA data show combined hotel and timeshare occupancy of 76.2 percent for the second quarter of 2026, compared with 72.1 percent in Q2 2025. That represents an increase of 4.1 percentage points, or approximately 5.7 percent year over year.
The improvement was driven primarily by the timeshare sector. Timeshare occupancy climbed to 75.5 percent in Q2 2026 from 68.5 percent during the same quarter last year, an increase of seven percentage points. Hotels, meanwhile, remained at a comparatively high level. Hotel occupancy stood at 77.3 percent in Q2 2026.
The figures indicate that while traditional hotel occupancy was essentially stable year over year, stronger timeshare performance lifted the overall accommodation sector above its 2025 second-quarter level.
The number of available rooms represented in the SHTA figures remained unchanged at 3,568 in both Q2 2025 and Q2 2026. Average occupied rooms per day increased from 2,572 last year to 2,718 this year, meaning roughly 146 additional rooms were occupied on an average day within the properties reporting to SHTA.
The longer-term comparison also points to significant improvement. Overall occupancy was 69.6 percent in the second quarter of 2024 and 65.7 percent in the second quarter of 2017. The 76.2 percent recorded this year therefore places the reporting properties well above those earlier benchmarks.
St. Maarten Performing Against a Stronger Caribbean Market
The figures come during what has also been a stronger year for hotels across the wider Caribbean.
Data from hotel analytics company STR showed Caribbean hotel occupancy reaching 73.9 percent in April 2026, up 5.8 percent from April 2025. Regional occupancy then reached 66.7 percent in May, representing a 5.5 percent year-over-year increase and the highest May occupancy recorded for the region, according to figures reported by Caribbean Journal.
Through the first five months of 2026, Caribbean hotel occupancy stood at 74.1 percent, 4.6 percent higher than during the same period in 2025. STR's regional data covered more than 2,000 hotels and approximately 264,000 rooms across the wider Caribbean.
That regional trend is important when viewing St. Maarten's results. The island's 77.3 percent hotel occupancy for the full second quarter suggests the reporting SHTA properties continued to perform at a relatively strong level even as the Caribbean hotel industry itself was experiencing renewed growth.
SHTA Cautions Figures Are Based on Voluntary Reporting
SHTA, however, includes an important qualification with its occupancy statistics.
The association notes that the number of available rooms reflects the hotels and timeshare properties that submitted occupancy information. Reporting by SHTA members is voluntary, and the association cautions that a considerable margin of error is therefore possible.
The figures should consequently be viewed as an indicator of performance among participating properties rather than a complete census of every hotel, resort, timeshare and other accommodation operating in St. Maarten.
Short-term vacation rentals and other accommodation outside the reporting membership are also not necessarily represented in the figures.
