The average length of stay for air visitors in September rose from 5.6 nights to 5.7 nights.

But the rise was not enough to offset a decline in total "bed nights'', after just 38,703 air arrivals wer recorded in September -- 7.3 percent down on last year.

The Bermuda Hotel Association has experienced a similar increase in length of stay, up to 4.7 nights on average, compared to 4.3 nights in 1993.

For the year to date, the average length of stay stands at 6.2 nights.

Arrivals from the United States went down by 9.3 percent, although European arrivals rose by 16.3 percent.

Cruise ship passengers came here in healthy numbers in September. Some 22,391 sailed in, 10.4 percent up on 1993.

Total arrivals for the month fell 1.5 percent to 61,228.