Air arrivals in the second quarter of this year were the lowest seen in almost 30 years, with 74,979 tourists flying to the Island between April and June.

The figure is the lowest since a modern recording system was introduced to the Department of Tourism in 1980 and a 14.27 percent decline compared to the same period last year, when 87,445 tourists flew to the Island.

Cruise arrivals were down 3.7 percent for the period, with 124,552 people visiting, and overall arrivals, which include yacht visitors, were down 7.98 percent compared to the same period last year.

In total 203,061 people visited the Island during the second quarter this year, which is the fifth highest total visitor figure for the second quarter in 30 years the Director of Tourism, Billy Griffith said.

All tourist accommodations, except small hotels, showed a decline during the three month period with an overall decline of 16.49 percent.

But Premier Ewart Brown said the figures, released yesterday, were a sign of a "slowdown to the slowdown" as they were an improvement on the first quarter of the year which saw air arrivals drop 22 percent and overall visitors drop 27 percent, when compared with 2008.

"Beyond the numbers, the second quarter can best be described as the period when Bermuda Tourism intensified its plan to deal with the significant phenomenon of the economic downturn that is facing the entire travel industry worldwide," Dr. Brown said.

"As we outlined in the first quarter the strategy was about concentrating on the core Northeast market, developing promotions that drive business, in conjunction with our hotel partners, continuing to leverage the 400th anniversary and, as mentioned, heightening our digital marketing strategy.

"It is clear that this four-pronged focused approach, emanating from the 2009 Sales and Marketing plan, served to arrest the downward spiral and contributed to a satisfactory levelling off of business."

The year to date figurers reveal 235,524 people have come to the Island, compared to 265,479 visitors for the first six months of 2008, a decline of 11.23 percent.

"Already, in just the first six months of 2009, we have seen a slowdown to the slowdown," Dr. Brown said. "Visitor arrivals have improved pretty convincingly between the first quarter and the second quarter of this year.

"That is clearly a trend in the right direction. This trend is expected to improve even further in the third quarter."

And looking forward Dr. Brown said he believed several promotions during the past three months will mean "continuation of this recovery trend and a successful second half" of 2009.

In particular he spoke of an ad campaign, produced by GlobalHue, which highlights the idea of Bermuda 'being a world away in only two hours' from several east coast cities.

TV campaign with a similar theme is due to start airing in New York, Boston, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia before the end of the month.

"The resulting work takes advantage of new technology to convey this sentiment. In my view the new campaign has real stopping power," he said. "The campaign tested extremely well among consumers and was said to be attention grabbing."

And for the first time ever, the print ads are on billboards in key gateways such as New York at the Holland Tunnel and Boston near the airport where Dr. Brown said in excess of seven million people will see them daily.

The Department of Tourism has also partnered with hotels to make staying in Bermuda more attractive to money conscious travellers.

Dr. Brown cited the "$99 in 99 hours" promotion saw rooms in several hotels sell for 50 percent off in June and resulted in the Fairmont Southampton selling 14,000 room nights [EmDash] or 4,000 bookings [EmDash] in just 99 hours.

He also mentioned the Sizzling Summer 400th Anniversary sale which has resulted in 15,164 room nights.

The Premier added that the Island was lucky to have maintained most of its air service, while other destinations have seen their air carrier service slashed.

"So for the balance of this year you cannot only expect more of the same, but an intensification of more of the same," he said. "Our digital marketing strategy is working and you will see more of it.

>"Our promotional partnerships with local hotel partners is driving visitors to our shores and your will see more of it. Our new ad campaign is turning heads and creating buzz [EmDash] you will see more of that too. Everyone at Bermuda Tourism will be focused on results for the second half of 2009. This is the time to retool, refurbish and return to greatness in Tourism."

Dr. Brown added that the reorganisation of the New York Office, which has already seen two major overhauls in just 12 months, has been "finalised".

He added the intent was to bring in a "results driven team" and announcements identifying the new representatives would be made in the near future.