Department of Tourism said yesterday.

The 38,000 air visitors in October brought the total for the year to 369,215, an increase of 1.2 percent over 1993.

In keeping with statistics earlier in the year, cruise ship figures were rosier. The 22,710 cruise ship arrivals in October marked an increase of 18.4 percent over the same month last year.

For the year, cruise arrivals are up by 13.6 percent, to 172,865.

Overall, Bermuda had 543,147 visitors to the end of October, representing an increase of 4.9 percent over last year.

Also during October, the average length of stay of visitors increased to six nights from 5.8 nights, while the Bermuda Hotel Association also reported an increase, to 4.9 nights from 4.8 nights.

For the year, the average length of stay was holding steady at 6.2 nights.

Bednights in October -- a key indicator of visitor spending -- fell 4.8 percent with visitors staying in guest accommodations falling four percent while those in private homes dropped seven percent.

For the year to date, total bednights are up 1.4 percent.

The October cruise visitor figures represented visits by 20 ships, compared to only 17 ships that visited in October, 1993.

Air arrivals from the United States decreased by 9.3 percent to 31,030 in October, while arrivals from Canada increased by 3.5 percent to 3,063.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom were flat at 2,432, while European arrivals fell by 17.4 percent to 714 and arrivals from other countries fell by 1.5 percent to 653.

US air arrivals showed decreases in all regions of the United States, except for the Midwest. Visitors from that region increased by 20.9 percent, to 3,420.