1998, the latest visitor statistics from Government show.

And total arrivals for the year are down by 1.3 percent for the year-to-date.

Air arrivals for October fell 5.46 percent over the same month last year, contributing to an overall drop in visitors of 2.52 percent for the same period.

While all other regions showed double digit increases for the month -- the UK market was up 38.16 percent -- the Island's core markets in the US and Canada were down nearly eight and nearly 22 percent respectively.

US regions showed nine to 27 percent declines for October except for the Mid Atlantic states, most of Bermuda's advertising and marketing budget is spent, which had an increase of 1.45 percent.

Led by the fall off in visitors from Toronto and Ontario, Canadian arrivals fell 21.66 percent over October, 1997. For the year-to-date, Canadian arrivals are down by 4.25 percent.

But in a good sign for the economy, the average amount spent on the Island per person during the third quarter of the year increased by $45.

This jump from $1,423 in 1997 to $1,468 this year was mainly attributed by the Tourism Department to the continuing increase in the amount visitors are having to spend on accommodations.

Accommodation expenditure per person increased by $15 from $1,005 in 1997 to $1,065 in the third quarter of 1998.

And in order to compensate for this increased cost, visitors spent $16 less on other items in 1998, spending $402 in total per person versus $418 during the third quarter last year.

The average length of stay for air visitors -- a statistic identified in the former Government's tourism plan as a key performance measure -- was up on last October's figure of 4.76 nights to 4.9 nights.

And the year-to-date average length of stay was 5.26 compared to the year-to-date total of 5.16 nights in 1997.

And bednights -- the number of nights visitors actually spent in Bermuda -- rose 0.28 percent for the month and 0.06 percent for the year to date.

Bednights for visitors staying in commercial accommodation fell 3.77 percent and are down 1.15 percent for the year to date.

Airline load factors for the month fell from 77 percent in 1997 to 75 percent because of the slightly larger number of seats airlines had to fill and the slip in passenger figures.

Last October, just under 60,300 seats were available and 46,300 were occupied.

This year there were 61,000 seats available but only 45,700 were occupied.

For the year-to-date, airline load factors stand at 75 percent compared to 72 percent last year.