date show a 10.5 percent jump over last year.

And they reported a full house for most of April and that projected bookings were stronger than last year.

But -- with the exception of Elbow Beach Hotel -- hoteliers still believed they had a long way to go before their properties were as successful as they were in the 1980s.

Elbow Beach general manager Mr. Timothy Russell, delighted with summer bookings, predicted 1993 will be a record year for business.

"We are 90 percent-plus full for the month and very busy all the way through September,'' he said.

Mr. Russell attributed the high bookings to the hotel's recent $25-million facelift and good marketing strategies.

Bermuda Hotel Association president Mr. David Dodwell was pleased with both hotel-occupancy projections and the increase in visitors.

"We seem to be pulling out of the slump of the last few years,'' he said.

"But we still have a long way to go before we reach 1980 levels.'' Mr. Dodwell cautioned against thinking all was well in the industry because visitor numbers were up. "The increase in visitors will not solve everything.

We have to be competitive in the market and offer value for money and the right price if we are going to be as successful as we once were,'' he said.

He added he believed hotels were making an effort to be more creative in marketing their properties and were offering more value for money.

Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort general manager Mr. Roger Borsink said his property was full-up as well, but May was usually busy due to group business.

"It's nice to be busy,'' he said. "But I wish it would be that way all year round. Summer looks okay, but it's not up to the 1990 level.'' He added, "1991 and 1992 are times we'd all like to forget about.'' Princess Hotels regional vice president Mr. Stephen Barker said summer bookings for the Hamilton Princess and Southampton Princess were looking stronger than last year.

But he said: "It's not a tremendous increase over last year. And we are nowhere near what we need to be to return to a viable state. Occupancies have declined significantly from what they were in the more prosperous years.

He said his hotels were hoping bookings would pick up more with the last-minute booking trend.

The average occupancy rate for major hotels last year was 55 percent, compared with nearly 70 percent back in 1987, he pointed out.

He said the two hotels were full, but not as full as they were in the Mays of the 1980s. "May used to be an extremely busy month,'' he said.

For the week ending May 9, air-visitor arrivals were up 18.9 percent over the same period in 1992 (1,649 people). For the year to date, air arrivals were up 10.5 percent (9,808 people).

Total visitor arrivals, including cruise visitors, were up 25.3 percent (3,261 people) for the week. For the year to date they were up 8.2 percent (9,022), bringing the level to 118,958 visitors for the year so far.

On average, hotels last month were 68.4 percent full, compared to 56.

2 percent last April.

Projections for May, June and July were 81.9 percent, 59.3 percent and 37.7 percent. But Mr. Dodwell noted the late booking trend was continuing.

Regular-calling cruise ships -- with the exception of the Song of America , which was only 65 percent full -- were all running at over 90 percent occupancy last week.