The amount of money spent by tourists in Bermuda last year fell by 17 percent, after 83,615 fewer visitors arrived on Bermuda's shores in 2001.

Both cruise passengers and visitors who arrived by air - who traditionally spend more during their stay - spent less during the year, according to statistics released by Government in the Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics yesterday.

The Island welcomed 275,009 air visitors during the year, a drop of 16.2 percent year on year, and the total spending by these visitors dropped 17.8 percent to $310.0 million from $377.1 million. Not surprisingly, the number of people employed in the hotel industry also fell by over six percent, according to the most recent figures for October employment released yesterday. The figures show the number of air visitors has plummeted by 115,396 or 30 percent since 1996. Spending per air tourist has remained fairly static over the same period, but the drastic reduction in numbers has wiped $123.7 million off the income from air passengers in the same six year period.

Since 1999 there has been a more significant drop in numbers, with 354,026 air visitors spending $435.7 million in that year, 328,332 spent $377.1 million in 2000 and in 2001 275,009 spent just $310.0 million. Cruise ship passenger numbers also dropped during last year, falling from 209,727 in 2000 to 179,435 in 2001 as did the amount of money they spent, falling just over ten percent from $44.2 million in 2000 to $39.7 million in 2001. Each cruise passenger spent on average $221 in 2001, and in 2000 spent $210.75. In 2001, air visitors spent $195.9 million on accommodation and food, a drop of 20 percent from a year earlier when they spent $245 million.

Air visitors also spent less on shopping, entertainment and transport, dropping 13.6 percent from $132.1 million in 2000 to $114.1 million in 2001.

The impact of September 11 worsened an already difficult year for the tourism industry, as fourth quarter air arrivals fell by 28 percent during this period to 45,899. "The volume of visitors travelling to the Island was affected strongly by the events of September 11," the bulletin stated. "In absolute terms, air visitors fell by 11,476 in October, 5652 in November and 760 in December, 2001, this represented a total of 17,888 fewer stay-over visitors than the previous year when the Island hosted 63,787 guests."

The worst decline in visitors by air was from the US, where arrivals fell by 29.4 percent. The report called this figure "startling". As a result of the fewer arrivals, spending in all sectors fell by 18 percent during the fourth quarter, dropping to $49.2 million, down from $60.0 million a year earlier and $88.5 million for the same quarter in 1999. The events of September 11 also affected cruise passengers, and 25,893 cruise visitors arrived in the final quarter of the year, a drop of 15.7 percent on the 30,711 recorded for the fourth quarter in 2000.

And as a result, cruise passengers bought fewer goods and services during the fourth quarter, down by 12.3 percent, spending $5.7 million in 2001, compared to $6.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The number of cruise ship visits to the Island in 2001 totalled 154 in 2001, down from 173 in 2000.

The number of people employed in the hotel industry at the end of October (the most recent figures available) stood at 3,080, a decline of 209 workers compared to October 2000 when there were 3,289 employed in this sector.

Resort hotels and cottage colonies and housekeeping establishments reported lower levels of employment with decreases in numbers of workers of 148 or six percent and 64 or ten percent respectively.