Bermuda ranks in the five worst performing islands after air arrivals dipped 4.6 percent last year, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation.

And the Island scored the second worst performance among the 28 CTO members for cruise ship arrivals which dropped 19 percent from 2007 to 2008, although Government had said cruise numbers would fall and would pick up again this year as the new terminal at Dockyard comes on line.

However yesterday Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley said it was time for the Tourism Department to stop spending on splashy events like music festivals that don't bring in significant numbers of tourists, and "focus on the markets that matter".

Mr. Dunkley said the reason why, for example, Aruba's air and cruise arrivals increased 15 percent in 2008 was because they flooded major U.S. markets with advertising.

According to the latest statistics from the CTO, cruise and hotel visits to many Caribbean and Atlantic island destinations declined last year, but many turned in increases.

Among the 28 CTO members: Anguilla and St. Vincent and the Grenadines fared the worst, with air arrivals down 10.8 percent and 9.5 percent from January to August (several islands had not submitted figures yet for the full year).

They were followed by Montserrat, with arrivals down five percent from January to December, and then Bermuda, Martinique (-4.4 percent January to August) and Grenada (-4.1 percent January to December).

From January and October, U.S. tourism mecca the Bahamas experienced a three percent drop and a nearly six percent drop in cruise arrivals.

Cuba (+9.1 percent January to December) and Curaçao (+31 percent January to September) fared the best, followed by Aruba which saw arrivals increase 15 percent in peak months January to June.

Major competitor the Cayman Islands managed to increase arrivals by almost four percent from January to December, bringing in some 303,000 tourists compared to Bermuda's 291,431. But its cruise arrivals were down 9.5 percent.

Caymans Tourism Minster Charles Clifford told lawmakers this week that with the overall visitation to the Caribbean forecast by the CTO to drop by as much as 30 percent this year, he was positive that "by staying true to our brand" and using "informed cutting-edge research" the Caymans will see growth.

He said "a much shorter booking window, sometimes merely days" was expected in 2009, and "there will be an increased flight to quality as value matters more than ever.

As a result of a deeper downturn predicted in 2009, many islands are offering spring deals. Bermuda Tourism Department is offering 400th anniversary specials of up to $400 credits at participating hotels. And airlines USA3000 is offering $99 one way flights, while JetBlue has one-way fares from New York's JFK from $99.

Shadow Minister Michael Dunkley blamed the lack of dedicated cruise ships on Front Street and in St. George for the drop off in arrivals, as well as a failure in the lead-up to the summer to put together a battle plan to boost business in the tough economy.

He also said there was a failure to respond to UBP calls for emergency tactical spending in core U.S. markets and a "paralysing mid-summer reorganisation of the North American sales office".

"These figures must come as a major shock to the Premier," Mr. Dunkley said. "How were many other islands able to turn their numbers around in difficult times, but Bermuda was not?

"We had plenty of rooms to sell, occupancy at the hotels was running at 60 percent and the airlines had plenty of capacity."

He added: "It is my understanding the recent Earth Wind & Fire Love Festival cost $500,000 but brought in just 40 people. I heard people were just walking in. We need to stop spending on parties for people in the loop and spend the money on advertising in our major markets where it matters."