According to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, visitor expenditures for October 2007 rose $6.9 million or 0.7 percent over last October to $966.8 million.

Expenditures for the first 10 months of 2007 totaled $10.1 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent or $64.9 million compared with the same period last year, officials said.

And the average daily visitor spending for October grew from $190 per person in 2006 to $194 per person in 2007 and for the first 10 months of 2007 daily spending also increased 2.6 percent to $181 per person.

For the month of October 2007, there was a 1.1 percent decline in total visitor days. The average length of stay was virtually unchanged at 8.9 days. Arrivals from Canada rose 10 percent, U.S. West arrivals were steady (+0.1 percent), but U.S. East (-2.3 percent) and Japanese (-8.3 percent) arrivals were lower compared with October 2006.

For the year through October 2007, total visitor days decreased 1.9 percent compared with 2006, while total arrivals were off by 1.1 percent. Among the top four visitor markets, visitors from the U.S West (+0.6%) and Canada (+2.6%) increased but arrivals from Japan (-3.2%) and the U.S. East (-2.7%) were lower compared with the first 10 months of 2006.