Editor The number of air arrivals and bednights fell in September according to the latest figures released by Government.

But the statictics also reveal that the number of cruise visitors rose while member properties of the Bermuda Hotel Association recorded an increase in occupancy percentage for the fifth consecutive month.

The number of September air visitors slipped 2.09 percent to 28,228 from the 28,830 recorded during the same month in 1999.

The drop of just more than 600 visitors was attributed by a statement accompanying the statistics "mainly to the 575 fewer visitors arriving from the United States''.

The drop for the month helped take the total number of air visitors for the first three quarters of the year down 5.9 percent to 264,518.

The statement said: "As the US market continues to register monthly declines, albeit at a slower rate in September, bringing the year-to-date total down to just under 208,600 visitors versus nearly 226,000 for the same period last year, the Canadian and UK markets continue to produce more air visitors to the Island than they did last year.

"Each country recorded marginal increases of 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively for the period January through September.'' Cruise visitors for the month rose 29.46 percent to 27,569 from the figure recorded for the same month in 1999.

And the year-to-date total of cruise visitors as of September was showing a 4.43 percent increase over the previous year with 179,016 visitors.

The statement said: "With four more calls than September of last year, when the threat of Hurricane Gert resulted in a number of cancellations, the total cruise arrivals for the month jumped nearly three percent from just under 21,300 to nearly 27,600.

"For the year-to-date, Bermuda has played host to over 6,000 more cruise ship visitors than it did for the same period last year when there were just over 172,800 arrivals, bringing the September increase into proper perspective.'' The boost helped drive the grand total number of visitors for September up 11.33 percent to 56,000 over the figure recorded in September, 1999.

But the grand total for the year-to-date was down 2.02 percent to 444,444 from the figure recorded in 1999.

The drop in air visitors was reflected in the number of bednights recorded for September.

September 2000 saw 158,124 bednights recorded -- a drop of 5.75 percent from the 167,770 recorded in September, 1999.

The year-to-date total was down 6.78 percent from the 1,703,215 bednights recorded in 1999 to 1,587,720 in the first three quarters of this year.

The statement also noted: "For the fifth consecutive month, member properties of the Bermuda Hotel Association have recorded an increase in occupancy percentage.'' The increase must be taken in the context of the loss of 400 rooms when the Marriott Castle Harbour hotel closed last year.

Airlines serving Bermuda during September carried more than 41,000 passengers to the Island for an operating load factor of 57 percent.

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