A drop in the number of younger visitors hit leisure air arrivals between April and June, the Bermuda Tourism Authority said yesterday.

The largest decline in visitors was in the 25 to 34 age bracket, which saw a 13.5 per cent decline over the period — 1,934 people.

The numbers in the 18 to 24 age bracket fell 8.3 per cent and the number in the 35 to 44 age bracket dropped by 5.6 per cent.

The total drop in the number of visitors in the three age brackets amounted to 2,871.

The first quarter experienced similar declines in the same age groups, a total of 4,670 fewer visitors in the first half of the year.

Despite the decline in overall leisure air arrivals, the number of visitors over the age of 55 grew by about 2 per cent with 403 additional visitors in the second quarter and 552 in the first half of the year.

New York, Bermuda’s largest tourism market, suffered the greatest decline in visitor air arrivals.

A total of 3,182 fewer visitors came to the island in the first six months of the year compared with the first half of last year — a drop of more than 12 per cent from 26,294 people to 23,112.

Boston, Hartford/New Haven, Baltimore, Chicago and most US West Coast locations also suffered declines.

But the number of tourists flying from Philadelphia went up by 407 and the number from Washington increased by 210 people.

The number of people who flew to the island for concerts and carnivals rose slightly, from 311 to 361. But destination weddings guest figures dropped from 3,397 to 2,854, and the number of visitors who came for sporting events fell from 994 to 813.

The BTA also reported that the average visitor spend an additional $90 in the quarter compared to last year — an average spend of $1,534 per person.

Leisure visitors also stayed slightly longer, with the average duration of stay extending from 5.19 days to 5.28 days.

Yacht arrivals fell by more than one third from 3,591 to 2,208, with declines in all size categories.