to arrest a decline in visitors from Bermuda's main market in February.

Total air visitor arrivals for February dropped 5.93 percent to 15,1881 visitors compared to the same period a year ago.

For the year to date, arrivals have fallen by 8.56 percent to 25,790.

Air arrivals from the United Kingdom -- one of the few bright spots in the 1998 air season -- declined in February as well, falling six percent to just 92 UK visitors.

In the US, a slight increase in air arrivals from the southeastern US failed to offset a slump in last month's total US visitor numbers.

Numbers show an eight percent jump in visitors from such states as Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina from 1,755 visitors to 1,888.

But the total amount of visitors from the US was still down by six percent with the western and mid-Atlantic states bearing the brunt. The regions suffered 33 and 11 per cent drops, respectively.

Overall US arrivals were down 5.62 percent to 10,433 for the month.

British arrivals fell six percent to just 1,518 UK visitors, although the decline may have been due to the fact that British Airways launched its Boeing 777 flights in February, 1998 with a range of cut-price fares.

European air arrivals also showed a slight decline, but the year-to-date tallies for both regions are up.

Meanwhile, Canadian numbers fell for the sixth consecutive month from 2,830 to 2,633.

Continuing the poor numbers, the overall number of nights actually spent on the Island decreased by seven percent with UK visitors showing the biggest drop. Length of stay figures are a key indicator of visitor spending.

UK, European and US visitor bed night stays fell by ten, eight, and seven percent, respectively.

And the Island's large hotels suffered most from the decline as almost 11 percent fewer people chose to stay in the properties.

However, Bermuda continues to attract well-seasoned travellers as 72 percent of the North American visitors reported having taken an air or cruise trip in the year prior to their arrival.