The amount spent by tourists increased by more than $40 million as the number of people arriving in Bermuda soared.

Government yesterday released tourism figures for the second quarter of the year ? from April to June ? which showed the sector was performing strongly.

The figures from the Government?s Statistical Department show that passengers arriving by air in the second quarter of 2006 spent an estimated $131.9 million, an increase of $15.6 million.

But the biggest growth was in the cruise ship sector, where visitors spent a total of $27.3 million, an increase of 52 percent over the same period last year.

The increase in visitor spending is a direct result of more tourists vacationing on the island ? with more tourists visiting Bermuda on cruise ships in the second quarter than at any other time in the island?s history.

Cruise visitors increased by 48 percent, compared to the same period last year, while air arrivals increased by almost ten percent, year on year.

A total of 122,560 cruise passengers visited Bermuda during the second quarter of this year while 101,333 tourists arrived by air.

Chairman of the Bermuda Tourism Board, Andre Curtis, welcomed the figures and said: ?I know the Minister has worked very hard with his team to promote Bermuda in a very unique and different way.

?We?ve also worked in a new target market and our new advertising agency GlobalHue has done outstanding work marketing Bermuda.

?The combination of the whole package is producing these positive results.?

Much of the increase in visitor numbers is due to greater frequency of flights and the arrival of low cost airlines.

More cruise ships have also been adding Bermuda to their itinerary.

Mr. Curtis said he is confident the trend would continue, adding: ?Our numbers have been up since the beginning of the year.

?I have no doubt it will continue. Low air fares mean that visitors have more money to spend when they are on the island.?

The increase in visitor arrivals however did not translate into increased employment opportunities for workers in the hotel industry.

The figures show that major resort hotels experienced the largest decline in employment when compared to 2005 levels.

There were 142 fewer employees or a six percent decline in workers.

Employment within cottage colonies and housekeeping accommodations fell 3.7 percent, while in contrast, seven more employees were hired to work in guest houses and micro-units when compared to April 2005 levels.

Other notable facts contained in the statistics are:

Total revenues for the accommodation industry climbed 11.9 percent in the second quarter of 2006.

Room occupancy revenue for resort hotels totalled $49.8 million in the second quarter.

Spending abroad reached new heights for the second quarter as residents declared a total value of $15.8 million on goods bought overseas.

Domestic retail sales in the same quarter declined 2.1 percent.

Residents took a total of 39,462 overseas trips during the second quarter, representing an increase 2,318 trips on the same period last year.

Minister for Tourism and Transport Dr. Ewart Brown was not available for comment last night.