the previous year as a record number of visitors came from Britain, Canada and various other countries, year-end Government figures show.

But much of the increase can be atttributed to cruise ship arrivals which soared 12.3 percent to a record 172,865. Arrivals by air edged up 1.1 percent to 415,923.

"While Bermuda's visitor arrivals did not increase to the extent we had hoped during this first year after the recession, the achievement of a four percent increase in total arrivals is no mean feat,'' Tourism Director Mr. Gary Phillips said yesterday. "We believe this growth in our secondary markets bodes well for 1995.'' Visitors from the United States -- Bermuda's largest source of tourist arrivals -- remained relatively stable, increasing by 2.7 percent over 1993 to just over half a million.

But most of the Island's traditional stateside markets provided fewer visitors than in the previous year, with the three largest -- New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey -- showing declines of 1.8, 2.6 and 2.2 percent respectively.

Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were the only states in the traditional northeast and mid-Atlantic markets to show increases in comparison to 1993.

The number of visitors from those areas rose by 4.8, 3.1, 8.2 and 4.5 percent respectively.

And though states like California and Texas continued to provide a large number of visitors from the farther flung midwest and western markets, the highest visitor increases for any US region was registered by New Mexico (40.2 percent over 1993).

Unlike the mid-Atlantic, northeast and southeast markets -- each of which registered slight decreases -- the midwest and western regions showed a rise in tourist arrivals of 8.5 and 6.7 percent respectively.

British visitors came to the Island in record numbers last year.

A total of 27,343 Britons made the transatlantic trek, eclipsing the old 1989 record by over 3,000 people and representing a 17.1-percent increase over the 22,572 who came in 1993.

Canada -- Bermuda's third-biggest source of visitors -- also provided a record number of visitors in 1994.

Some 40,585 Canadians -- most from Ontario -- came to the Island, beating the 1984 record by more than 1,000 or 8.3 percent.

While on the Island, visitors spent more than 1.1 million "bed nights'' in large hotels, an increase of 2.6 percent over 1993.

A decrease in the number of overnight stays was reported by Bermuda's small hotels, housekeeping cottages, guest houses and facilities of 12 beds or less.

Overall the number of "bed nights'' -- a key figure for estimating visitor spending -- rose by 1.1 percent last year, to almost three million.