The number of tourists visiting Bermuda increased by almost a quarter in 2006 to more than 635,000, according to new figures released by Government.

The latest Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics revealed that 635,272 air and cruise passengers visited the Island last year — an increase of 22.9 percent on 2005. Despite the buoyant visitor figures, the number of jobs in the hotel industry fell by 178 to 2,936 from October 2005 to October 2006. The bulletin attributes the decline to “employment reductions within major resort hotels and... the imminent closure of a major hotel for renovations.”

The number of cruise ship visitors leapt to 336,299 in 2006, a rise of 36 percent. Air arrivals increased by almost 11 percent, reaching 298,973 last year — the highest number since 2000, when 328,305 air arrivals were recorded.

Hotels benefited from the influx of visitors last year with revenue rising 4.5 percent to $275.8 million from $263.83 million the previous year. Small hotels and cottage colonies earned about 16 percent more and resort hotels three percent more in 2006. Revenue for other types of accommodation dropped by almost five percent.

The bulletin describes the last three months of 2006 as “robust” in terms of air visitors. The number increased by more than 14 percent to 62,291. Cruise ship arrivals, meanwhile, dipped six percent in the fourth quarter to 48,847.

American air passengers made up nearly three-quarters of all tourists visiting Bermuda, with 20 percent more of them coming to the Island in the fourth quarter of 2006 than during the same period in 2005. “Increased airline capacity was partially attributable to the 19.4 percent gain in the number of visitors from the UK,” said the bulletin. “In addition, the number of air travellers from all other countries rose 11.6 percent. The year-over-year number of Canadian visitors fell 17.6 percent for the quarter.”

The extra air visitors boosted hotel occupancy, with resorts reaping the most rewards. They had 30,485 guests in the final quarter of 2006, compared to 26,638 in 2005. Housekeeping accommodation saw a rise in visitors of almost 27 percent, guest houses five percent and private homes 18 percent.

Air visitors are estimated to have spent more than $80 million in Bermuda during the last three months of 2006 — an increase of more than 17 percent on 2005. The bulletin said: “This accounted for an injection of $11.9 million in foreign exchange earnings into the local economy.”

Their spending on shopping, entertainment and transport rose 17.8 percent or $2.7 million and spending on food and accommodation rose 17.1 percent to $62.9 million.

Cruise ship visitors were estimated as spending $221 each, parting with some $10.8 million during the final quarter of 2006, a 4.4 percent decrease from 2005. The cruise ship tourists account for less than 12 percent of tourist spending. Cruise ship staff are estimated to have spent $1.3 million in the final quarter.