release of July's visitor arrival figures. The statistics reveal that 286,266 visitors arrived in Bermuda in the first seven months of this year -- 3.3 percent down on the same period last year.

When last July is compared with July, 1991, air arrivals fell by 2.4 percent and cruise arrivals by 15.4 percent. A total of 63,098 tourists arrived during the month, down 7.2 percent on last year.

A glimmer of good news, given Government's drive to increase European tourism, is that visitors from the continent increased 17.7 percent compared with July last year. However, this still only amounts to the tiny total of 717.

Canadian visitors also increased, by 7.8 percent, giving a total of 2,251. But visitors from the massive US market dropped 3.0 percent, to 36,187. And UK visitors fell 15.3 percent, to 1,843. Air passengers stayed an average of 7.0 nights, compared to 7.2 in July 1991, and cruise passengers stayed an average of 2.7 nights, compared to 2.8 nights.