Air arrivals, one of the coveted indicators for the Bermuda Tourism Authority, rose 11.3 per cent for the first quarter of the year according to the Department of Statistics.

Bermuda hosted 32,233 air visitors during the first quarter of 2016, although the increase in visitor spending was more modest, at 2.7 per cent year on year.

Air visitors are estimated to have spent $37.5 million — $2 million less on food and accommodation but $3 million more on shopping, entertainment and transport.

Meanwhile, four cruise ships during Q1 brought in 3,314 passengers who spent an estimated $400,000. Just 319 cruise passengers came in the same period for 2015.

There was a drop in hotel employment over the course of 2015 — 74 fewer Bermudian workers were counted for that sector, which acquired 12 additional non-Bermudians.

At the end of January 2016 there were 2,292 hotel workers counted.

Hotel gross receipts in Q1 rose by 7.2 per cent over the previous year’s figure, to a total of $36.2 million — $1.4 million of which was attributed to increased sales of food and alcohol.