Tourist arrivals and hotel bookings were both boosted in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Department of Statistics.

The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics, released yesterday by the Department, reported a 6.3 percent increase in air arrivals and 35.4 percent increase in cruise ship arrivals year-on-year in the fourth quarter.

Between October and December a total of 94,708 visitors arrived on the Island, 47,211 by air and 47,497 by cruise ship. Only 79,474 visitors travelled to Bermuda during the same period in 2012.

As a result of the increase of arrivals, it was estimated that the Island recorded an additional $3.5 million in visitor spending during the quarter from air arrivals and an additional $2.7 million from cruise ship visitors.

More than two thirds of the air arrivals — 32,197 — came from the United States, an increase of around seven percent from the same period in 2012.

Hotels, cottage colonies and other tourist accommodations all saw increased bookings during the period, with hotel gross receipts for the period totalled $51.2 million.

In total, air arrivals for 2013 were 1.8 percent higher than the previous year and, while resort hotel occupancy fell by 0.4 percent, occupancy rates on all other types of tourist properties increased year-on-year.

The figures come less than a week after the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) reported improved year-on-year hotel bookings and hotel occupancy during the first two months of 2014 — although it also noted that air arrivals had slipped during the period by 0.2 percent.

Premier Craig Cannonier said yesterday he was optimistic about the fourth quarter tourism statistics, noting the increase in air arrivals and hotel bookings.

“I’m very encouraged to see these signs of optimism from our visitors,” he said. “I applaud the hard work of the Minister of Tourism Shawn Crockwell and the Department of Tourism, especially during that time frame.

“We’ve still got a long road ahead of us, but I believe the country should also see these figures as positive indicators of our efforts to move the in the right direction.”

The Quarterly Statistics also noted a $1.6 million increase in retail spending during the quarter, and a 7.5 percent decrease in overseas declarations.

Overall, residents spent a total of $60.5 million on overseas purchases in 2013, which represented a 6.8 percent dip in expenditure when compared to the $64.9 million spent in 2012.