BITOA said that although visitor numbers for January seemed to indicate that the year got off to a flying start, figures for January 2002 were low, almost 11% lower than January 2001.

Short-haul traffic and weekend breaks made up an unusually large proportion of incoming visitors, while long-haul traffic, particularly from North America, remained in the doldrums.

BITOA added that it was likely that until the threat of war in the Middle East was over, the next few months would produce the same sort of picture, with actual visitor numbers remaining fairly static.