figures show.

And Bermuda's major hotels are renting less rooms as visitors opt for alternative places to stay, the figures reveal.

Yesterday both Government and the Bermuda Hotel Association released their latest figures portraying trends in tourism.

They paint a gloomy picture for the major hotels and reveal that Tourism Minister David Dodwell's aim of bringing an extra 25,000 visitors to Bermuda this year is off course.

However last night Hotel Association president Dennis Tucker was still up-beat about the future.

"I remain optimistic for 1997 because finally Bermuda is recognising what must be done to improve the tourist product,'' said Mr. Tucker.

Figures from the Hotel Association show that in November overall occupancy rates for hotels and cottage colonies was 47.8 percent -- down almost six percent on November last year and 1994.

Occupancy rates are forecast to be down for this month as well as January, but slightly up in February compared to previous years.

But the worst picture is painted by the total number of room nights -- the actual number of rooms rented and the biggest earner for hotels.

Up to the end of November the number of room nights sold was 670,626 -- down on the same time last year and 57,698 down on 1994.

The news comes on the heels of further losses for the eight major hotels -- which combined to lose $5.6 million in the year ended in September.

According to Government figures the total number of tourists coming to Bermuda up to the end of November was 555,732 -- up 2.7 percent on the same time last year.

However air arrivals rose by just 0.9 percent and the overall increase in visitors was largely due to a six percent jump in the number of cruise ship passengers.

Air arrivals from the US -- where the `Let Yourself Go' marketing campaign is aimed -- were up just one percent compared with the first 11 months of last year. American cruise ship passengers were up almost five percent.

The figures show that the total number of bednights -- the number of people staying in a room multiplied by their length of stay -- are down this year compared to last.

Up to the end of November 2.23 million bednights were sold -- down 2.5 percent compared to the first 11 months of 1995.

No overall figures for the average length of stay were included in the Government statistics, but figures for November show tourists stayed for an average of five-and-a-half days -- the same for November 1995.

Mr. Tucker added: "Arrivals might have increased, but people are visiting family or friends and are not always staying in hotel accommodation. We are also concerned about the average length of stay which is going down compared to previous years.'' "Unfortunately the hotel figures do make for gloomy reading and I really cannot say specifically what the cause is except Bermuda is so susceptible to the global competition.''