HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) — Bermuda’s ailing tourism industry, which has seen air arrivals decline by 16.8 per cent over the past 10 years, remained flat in 2014 with a 0.8 per cent increase in overall visitors, according to figures released here.

While air arrivals tumbled by 5.1 per cent last year, arrivals by sea increased, with cruise ship passengers up 4.7 per cent and yacht arrivals up 24.6 per cent. The rise in yacht arrivals was largely attributed to the biennial Newport to Bermuda Yacht Race.

Despite the continuing fall in air arrivals and lower visitor spending, the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) remains upbeat about the future.

The BTA, launched last April to run the industry, announced in its year-end report unveiled on Tuesday that a total of 584,702 tourists came to the island in 2014.

The BTA said a new marketing strategy focusing on experiential travel as well as working with media and travel partners was “starting to take root”.

Experiential travel focuses on combining authentic stories from Bermuda with targeted retail promotions. One such promotion is the Pink Sale featuring up to 50 per cent room rate discounts at participating hotels.

BTA chief executive officer Bill Hanbury said, “Last year was a year of transition for the Tourism Authority. We worked very hard to produce positive results in 2014, but we had less control over the outcome than we would have liked.

“In 2015, the BTA team started executing the plan we presented to stakeholders at the Bermuda Tourism Summit. Many of those stakeholders have told us they’re upbeat about the prospects of that plan and internally we’re upbeat on the strategy as well.”

A 6.9 per cent decrease in American tourists, who make up the majority of Bermuda’s visitors, made a dent in the air arrivals, although visitors from Canada increased by 5.5 per cent.

Visitor spending was down by 11.3 per cent year-on-year to US$280.2 million, while individual tourist spending dropped by 6.6 per cent.

Bermuda’s once vibrant tourism industry plays second fiddle to international business, the main plank of the island’s economy.