by the tourism industry since 1973.

Total arrivals were down 1.7 percent compared to 1991, with air arrivals down 2.8 percent at 374,497 and cruise arrivals up by 2.2 percent for the year at 131,006, the Department of Tourism reported yesterday.

For December, total air arrivals were up by 0.4 percent to 15,674, with Us arrivals down marginally compared to 1991 and British and Canadian arrivals up by 26 percent and 5.8 percent respectively.

There was bad news for hoteliers during the month -- average length of stay for Bermuda Hotel Association members plunged from 4.6 to 4.2 nights.

Length of stay for all visitors fell from 6.5 to 6.1 nights. For the year, length of stay dropped from 5.7 to 5.6 nights.

For the year, the number of US air visitors fell 3.6 percent to 308,821, the lowest since 1972. Cruise ship passengers grew by 1.1 percent. Total US visitors were down 2.5 percent at 431,359.

Total Canadian visitors grew by 8.8 percent to 36,139. British visitors were down by three percent at 20,831 while European visitors increased by 9.5 percent to 8,323.