level since 1990.

Those coming from Bermuda's main tourism source, the United States, climbed by 12.1 percent to 7,206.

And those flying from Britain shot up 18.2 percent to 735, the Government figures show.

As well as arriving in greater numbers, January visitors also stayed longer.

The average length of stay for visitors leapt from 7.7 nights to 8.1.

The Bermuda Hotel Association, meanwhile, recorded a rise from 5.5 nights to 6.2.

Large hotels benefited from a 25.1 percent leap in the number of "bednights'' -- a key indicator of visitor spending -- from 25,990 to 32,504.

For small hotels the increase was 3.7 percent from 7,535 to 7,816.

Last month's total number of visitors compared with 9,268 and 8,331 for 1994 and 1993 respectively.

Arrivals from the Southeast US went up by 39 percent to 1,126, while those from the Midwest rose by 27.7 percent to 705.