industry.

Hoteliers welcomed cuts in the rate of duty on diesel oil.

St. George's businessmen applauded the reduced arrival tax on pleasure craft passengers.

And Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge enthused over the removal of a winter tax on cruise ship passengers.

He also cheered a $500,000 windfall to advertise Bermuda in Europe.

It comes on the heels of British Airways decision to increase airlift between Bermuda and Britain.

"I am very pleased indeed. It gives us a great marketing arm,'' he said.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul said tourism offered the best long-term prospects for jobs.

The Tourism Department will receive a $28.3 million shot-in-the-arm from Goverment, according to expenditure estimates.

The key Budget moves to give tourism a pep are: Cutting the rate of duty on diesel supplied to hotels from 23 cents a litre, to 9.5 cents a litre; Reducing tax on passengers arriving by pleasure craft to $15 from April 1; and Removing the cruise ship passenger arrival tax between the start of November and end of March, effective from November 1993.

Dr. Saul predicted there would be a gradual improvement in tourism this year.

He forecast the number of regular and cruise ship visitors will rise by three percent on 1991. But there will be no growth in the amount of spending by tourists.

1992 had seen 506,237 tourists come to the Island -- a 1.7 percent drop on the previous year.

Visitor spending fell 7.3 percent in 1991, and a further four percent in the first nine months of 1992.

Mr. Steven Hollis, a member of the yachting executive of the St. George's Chamber of Commerce, said the reduction in pleasure craft passenger tax would help St. George's recover lost business.

Mr. David Boyd, president and managing director of Sonesta Beach Hotel, claimed the Budget would help hoteliers avoid cutting services.

He said said it was a "great'' Budget for the Island's hoteliers. "Given the present state of tourism here, I would not have wanted to face the challenge of a Budget which increased our costs. This is very encouraging. It all helps us look a little more brightly to the future.''