Minister of Tourism David Dodwell has fallen a few thousand bodies short of his goal of adding 25,000 new visitors onto Bermuda beaches this year, statistics provided yesterday by Government Information Services reveal.

But the total number of visitors arriving to the Island in 1996 by air and cruise ships was up by 19,340 over 1995, an increase of 3.47 percent.

The good news was however tempered by a continued decline in the number of bednights throughout Island hotels, which fell by 2.3 percent.

On the positive side, cruise ship passengers led the charge -- 10,514 more arrived on Bermuda's shores over 1995. They also continued to spend more on liquor, gifts, and clothing, on average parting with $98 per person.

Visitors arriving by air posted a marginal increase of .8 percent over 1995; 2,845 more arrived at the International Airport than in the previous year.

If taken by country of origin, Americans continued to be Bermuda's biggest customers; 316,428 visited the Island in 1996, up 1.1 percent over 1995. The number of Canadians visiting dropped 2.3 percent, though Canada remained the second largest source of visitors, contributing 34,641 extra bodies.

Travel from the UK meanwhile was up .9 percent to 22,955, while 3.9 percent more Europeans -- or 7,488 visitors -- let themselves go here.

In terms of spending Europeans, for the fourth year in a row, continued to outspend North Americans. On average the European visitor spent $1514, compared to $1273 for Canadians and $1245 for Americans.

Despite the decline in the number of bednights sold (minus 2.3 percent) throughout 1996, December ended with a glimmer of hope. Compared to 1995, bednights for the month were up 2 percent while the average length of stay, at 8.3 days, was up .3 percent. Statistics comparing length of stay for the entire year were not provided.

guest houses were hardest hit over the year, posting a staggering 17.6 percent decline in bednights sold. The Island's major hotels meanwhile saw bednights drop 4.4 percent, and small hotels saw business drop 2.2 percent.

Smaller establishments with 12 beds or less, private clubs, and cottage colonies however all posted solid gains.