overall arrival figures for the month thanks to a strong showing from the UK.

Overall air arrival figures for the month fell by 0.83 percent compared to the previous year and 2.25 percent for the first nine months of 1998 compared to 1997.

And cruise ship arrival figures slid 4.12 percent for the month, and climbed 0.47 percent for the first three quarters of the year, taking overall figures down 2.33 percent to 61,640 for the month and 1.26 percent to 456,116 for the year-to-date.

This four percent decline in the traditionally stable cruise ship bracket was attributed to a departure from the regular method of scheduling.

Norwegian Cruise Lines committed the Norwegian Crown to four calls in December as opposed to visits in the traditional September and October period.

The information was contained in Government's latest batch of visitor arrival statistics as reported in the September issue of Bermuda in Perspective.

Aside from countries making up the rest of the world category Bermuda's main visitor market was the only country showing a decline for the month.

In September, 1997, 27,154 people visited Bermuda from the US and this figure fell to 25,804 last month. The only areas of the US which showed an increase in arrivals for the month were the West, North East and South East.

Year-to date in 1997, 241,364 people had visited from the US in comparison to 232,491 this year -- a drop of 3.68 percent. The only area showing an increase for this nine month period is the South East.

Canada rebounded from a decline in August to post an increase of four percent over the previous September with a climb from 2,838 arrivals to 2,961 but for the year-to-date period was down from 25,208 to 24,763 or 1.77 percent.

Meanwhile the UK posted another double digit increase.

In September, UK visitor arrivals hit 3,451 -- an increase of nearly 1,000 visitors over last year's total of 2,375 or a 45 percent climb.

The country's strong year is reflected in the fact that while overall visitor arrivals for the year-to-date trail last year's figure for the same period by more than two percent, UK arrivals have increased nearly 25 percent from 18,037 to 22,474.

Elsewhere in the statistics, figures which have been identified in the Five Year Plan for Tourism as a more accurate assessment of the state of the industry show an improvement.

The average length of stay for visitors staying in commercial accommodations for the month of September was 4.9 nights compared to 4.86 in 1997. The year-to date average length of stay was 5.31 nights compared to the year-to-date total of 5.21 nights recorded last year. And bed nights -- a key indicator of visitor spending -- were up by 1.81 percent for the month to 189,850 and by 0.03 percent for the year-to-date at 1,797,734.

1980-1998 comparison Overall air arrival figures for the first nine months of 1998 pale in comparison to the figure recorded for the same period in 1980.

While 291,021 people have flown to Bermuda over the first nine months of the year, 385,584 people made the trip during the same period 18 years ago.

The overall figure for air arrivals in 1980 was 491,035 -- the highest figure ever recorded for the year.

The highest figure for air arrivals during the month of September was recorded in 1987 when 48,444 people flew to the Island -- 14,819 more than last month.

The year-to-date figure for air arrivals in September, 1987, was 383,753.

On a higher note, air arrival figures from the UK for the whole of 1989 stand at 20,530 and air arrivals from the UK this year have already topped this figure with three months to spare.

Over the first three quarters of 1998, 22,474 people have flow to the Island from the UK.