Tourism Department statistics released yesterday showed.

Total tourist arrivals for April rose by 13.7 percent to 44,076. A total of 50,025 visitors arrived in 1990, while 38,750 arrived in 1991 -- one of the worst tourism years on record.

However, visitor arrivals for the year so far are still less than the same period last year.

Arrivals for January through April stand at 93,737, which is 3.6 percent less than the 97,191 recorded for the same period in 1991.

In April a total of 33,734 tourists flew to Bermuda, compared to 31,906 in 1991 and 41,812 in 1990.

Visitors arriving by ship increased by 51 percent to 10,342 compared to the 6,844 cruise passengers who came in 1991. Eight cruise liners visited last April, while 10 visited this April.

Air visitors from the United States rose by 7.7 percent, while arrivals from Canada dropped by a marginal 1.4 percent.

The number of visitors coming to Bermuda from the United Kingdom also fell (by 6.9 percent), but those coming from the rest of Europe increased by 11.6 percent to 365.

The average length of stay remained the same at 6.1 nights although the Bermuda Hotel Association recorded a decrease to 4.2 nights from 4.4 nights.

Large hotels continued to suffer the poorest occupancies, with 1.2 percent fewer guests than in 1991. For the year, they are down 14.8 percent on last year.

Bed nights -- which give a better indication of tourist spending -- were up six percent on last April, but are down 10 percent for the year.