Strong projections for summer hotel bookings give reason for optimism for the 1997 tourism year, Tourism Minister David Dodwell said yesterday.

He was commenting after the Tourism Ministry yesterday released figures showing that total visitor arrivals for the first third of the year fell by 0.7 percent compared to the same period in 1996.

"My hope is that as (hotel occupancy) projections for May, June and July become a reality, they will offset the slightly behind start we've had so far this year compared to last year,'' Mr. Dodwell said.

He said that projections for May and July were up on last year.

For the first four months of the year, 107,341 air and cruise passengers have visited Bermuda, a 0.7 percent decline, the Tourism Ministry said.

"Generally, the first three months are quiet. So a modest change is not as important because it is in the off season,'' Mr. Dodwell said.

Air arrivals were down slightly and cruise visitor numbers were up for April.

Some 35,828 travellers arrived by air in April, a decrease of 2.9 percent, compared to 36,372 for April, 1996. For the year through April, total air arrivals were 90,674, off 2.4 percent from the 92,893 air arrivals in 1996.

For April, the first month of the Island's cruise ship season, 16,177 visitors set sail to Bermuda, a 6.4 percent jump compared to April of last year.

April bed nights -- a key figure for estimating visitor spending -- fell one percent to 202,380. The average length of stay in April rose 0.1 percent to 5.7 days.

For the year to date, air arrivals from the US mid-Atlantic states -- Bermuda's biggest single market -- fell to 28,216, off 4.7 percent from the 29,597 recorded in 1996.

Total arrivals from the US for the year to date are down 2.39 percent to 67,989 as the fall in the mid-Atlantic states was offset by gains in the Midwest and West.

For the month, US arrivals fell 4.43 percent to 28,287, largely due to an 11.19 percent drop in arrivals from the mid-Atlantic region.