Visitor spending on tourism showed a marked decline in 2014, while resident spending on foreign travel showed its first growth in years, according to industry statistics.

The latest Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) showed that tourism contributed a gross value of $583 million to Bermuda’s economy in 2014, and 22 per cent of government revenue — one third of it in customs duties.

However, visitor spending dropped from $402 million for 2013 to $362 million for the year ending 2014, a drop of $40 million, and the total number of tourism related jobs fell from 3,218 to 2,796, dropping by 1 per cent to represent 8.4 per cent of jobs in the Island.

Direct tourism brought in $260 million, a drop of $25 million from 2013. The gross value added dropped for all tourism products except travel agencies, tour operators and tourist guide services, which increased by $1 million.

Last year there were 2,043 Bermudians working in tourism, and 753 expatriates.

Overall, public administration stood as the Island’s biggest employer, followed by hotels and restaurants.

Resident spending on foreign travel stood at a high of $417 million in 2010 but slumped dramatically between 2011 and 2012, bottoming out at $322 million in 2013. It rose to $374 million last year.