Just 8,591 visitors flew into the Island between October 10 and 16 -- 15.4 percent down on last year.

The weekend storm which forced the closure of the Airport was behind the dramatic slide.

"Naturally this dragged the figures down,'' said a Government spokesman.

For the year to date, air arrivals stand at 353,498, just 1.4 percent above the same period in 1993.

In contrast, cruise ship passengers continue to pour in at a healthy rate.

Last week, 6,546 arrived here, marking a 29.7 percent increase on last year's figure of 5,047.

The number of visitors overall last week -- 15,172 -- was 0.2 percent lower than 1993.

Leading the way among the cruise ships was Song of America with an occupancy rate of 98.02 percent.

Rates for the other vessels were: Royal Majesty , 97.54; Horizon , 96.90; Dreamward , 94.93; Meridian , 90.71; and Royal Viking Sun , 79.32.

So far this year, the overall tally of visitors is 4.6 percent up on 1993.

Some 514,784 visitors have come here, compared to 492,353 over the same period last year.