Visitor arrivals in May were down 0.5 percent compared to May, 2002, a "tremendous improvement from a decline of 11 percent" in the first three months of the year, according to Tourism Minister Renee Webb.

Ms Webb revealed the figures in "Outlook on Tourism", a new quarterly publication from the Tourism Ministry contained in today's Royal Gazette.

And she revealed that average daily visitor spending for April and May was $1,235, an increase of 55 percent from the $800 spent per person in the first quarter for air visitors.

Ms Webb also said hotel occupancy rates were strong for the summer.

"Intended bed nights for visitors for the month of May, 2003 actually increased by 3.6 percent over May, 2002 (200,647 this year as compared with 193,727 last year) even with a diminished visitor base," she said.

And she said the Bermuda Hotel Association was projecting occupancy levels of 75.1 percent for May, up 3.1 percentage points from May last year.

"Their member properties are also showing that the next few months are shaping up in a positive way with some properties predicting above 80 percent occupancies for June and July."