Tourist spending jumped last year by almost $30 million to $378.8 million - but it was still well below 2000, according to the latest Government figures.

Tourism Minister Renee Webb said last night the figures were encouraging because they showed visitors were staying longer and Bermuda looked to be attracting the big-spending visitors it has been targeting.

The year end figures show total air and cruise arrivals in 2002 were up 6.4 percent at 483,622 over 2001 - which dipped dramatically after the September 11 attacks - although they still trail the 2000 arrivals of 538,059.

Air arrivals were up from 275,009 in 2001 to 283,557 last year, but lagging well behind the 2000 figure of 328,332. Cruise visitors for last year were 200,065 compared to 179,435 in 2001 and 209,727 in 2000.

Ms Webb told The Royal Gazette: "It indicates people are staying longer and we are also

attracting the higher end tourist in terms of spending.

"On a per person basis, they are spending more than they did in 2001. The real issue will be how this pans out at the end of the year, which will be the measure of whether we are targeting the right people and getting the bigger spenders.

"We are pleased. All we can do is go from strength to strength in that area. We know shopping is the biggest past time (for tourists) and the retailers are benefiting."

Ms Webb said marketing cash was being more "wisely" spent than under her predecessor David Allen to target potential visitors in and around the gateway airports in the United States.

"Our marketing dollars were expended all over the place and in some cases they were not justified compared to the numbers coming out of there," she said.

"We are spending our marketing dollars more wisely, and as a consequence we should do better."

More cruise ships will visit the Island this year due to additional occasional visitors, and Bermuda and the Caribbean are well-placed to cash in on Americans' fear of travelling great distances in the wake of the war in Iraq, she said.

And she is confident that this year's arrival figures, aided by the Island's first television advertising campaign in years, will be better than 2002.

"Clearly we are optimistic, although the figures were down in 2001 as a consequence of September 11 and the sceptics would say it is easy to beat 2001. But we are encouraged that the numbers are up in 2002," she said.

"A number of jurisdictions didn't bounce back as we seemed to have bounced back, and we hope to increase those numbers this year.

"We are very optimistic we will increase on those numbers. We now have TV adverts in the market, so people are now getting the choice of another destination, because people were not even thinking about Bermuda, so the fact we are entering the TV market is seen as a spin-off.

"As long as we increase the numbers we are not disappointed. The projected numbers of cruise visitors will increase this year as the number of occasional visitors will increase.

"The cruise lines are looking at other destination other than Europe and Middle East and Bermuda and the Caribbean will tend to benefit as a consequence of that.

"We are also looking at other ports other than New York such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston."

Neither Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell nor Bermuda Hotel Association president Norman Mastalir returned calls for comment yesterday.