Bermuda recorded its best second quarter cruise arrivals this year.

Premier Ewart Brown told industry executives this afternoon that 171,295 visitors cruised to the Island between April and June.

His comments were made at a press conference held to announce the second quarter tourism statistics.

“Cruise arrivals soared over 37 percent during this quarter, an increase from the 124,553 cruise arrivals in 2009,” he said. “[This] represents the largest second quarter total ever.”

The cruise visitors accounted for 67.7 percent of the overall arrivals for the three-month period.

The number of air visitors to the Island was up three percent — to 77,512 — during the quarter when compared to the same period last year.

The air arrivals figure for 2009 was the worst on record in 30 years. In 2008 87,445 tourists flew to the Island.

Hotel occupancy was up compared to 2009, in large part due to the closure of hotels throughout the year.

The Bermuda Hotel Association members recorded 88 percent occupancy in major hotels, which is the highest recorded occupancy rate for major hotels since 2007. Overall, the BHA member hotels’ occupancy rate rose 11 percentage points, averaging 69 percent compared to 58 percent for the same three months last year.

Dr. Brown said: “The reduction of rooms, approximately 235 rooms or eight percent in the past 12 months, clearly made business better for existing hotels.”

For the full story see tomorrow’s Royal Gazette.