More visitors staying longer from the United Kingdom helped brighten more gloomy arrival figures from Bermuda's key markets.

Air arrivals from the UK rose in April and the number of bednights taken by British visitors also increased -- in contrast to a drop in both categories for US visitors.

The figures, revealed in the Department of Tourism's Visitor Arrival Statistics for April, combined to make a grand total of 44,551 air and sea visitors for the month, down 9.22 percent on the same month last year.

And for the year so far, 93,446 people came to the Island -- down 8.34 percent on 1999.

The numbers follow falls in March and February, bringing to a close a disappointing first third of the year for the tourism industry.

Total air visitors for April dropped by 1.47 percent to 33,701. Europe saw the greatest fall, down 23 percent to 544 people, followed by the US -- down 4.05 percent to 26,121.

UK boosts gloomy tourism arrivals Passengers from the UK increased by 25 percent to 3,259 -- the third consecutive monthly increase and the largest rise in a year.

Canada was up by 0.10 percent to 3,007 and the rest of the world up to 770 -- a rise of 13 percent.

The number of cruise ship visitors decreased by nearly 27 percent in April, compared to the same period last year, bringing a total of 10,751 people.

There were three fewer ships calling in the month, according to the Department of Tourism.

For the year to date, the number of US visitors fell by 8.82 percent, Europe down by 4.28 percent, Canada up by 2.39 percent, UK up by 11.47 percent and rest of world up by 27.78 percent.

The total number of bednights sold -- a key indicator of the health of the hospitality industry -- dropped by 0.26 percent to 191,121 for April, whereas the average stay increased by 0.07 percent to 5.7 nights.

Visitors from the US accounted for 126,329 bednights -- down 6.38 percent -- with the average stay dropping slightly to 4.8 nights.

Canadians stayed 22,261 bednights, up 7.22 percent, and lingered slightly longer on the Island for an average of 7.4 nights.

Visitors from the UK took up 32,315 bednights, up nearly 29 percent, and also stayed longer with an average holiday of 9.9 nights.

Large hotels suffered most with a loss of bednights, falling by 13 percent to 17,772. Small hotels had a slight decrease whereas all other accommodations saw a rise in bednights sold.

Of the US markets, the major mid-Atlantic sector had a fall in visitors of four percent to 11,194, the north east region fell by 11 percent to 6,692, south east up by 12 percent to 4,266, mid-west down 15 percent to 2,368 and west up ten percent to 1,584.

During April there were a total of 62,477 available airline seats, 45,300 of which were sold for a load factor of 73 percent.