The number of passengers travelling to and from the Island fell by 1.9 per cent last year, compared to 2007.

Although the figure for air departures rose slightly, it was more than offset by a 4.8 per cent fall in the number travelling by sea.

The latest Passenger Survey report, produced by Treasury, shows the number of trips on scheduled services to and from the Island fell from 688,010 to 674,772 in 2008.

The number of trips off-Island by Isle of Man residents rose from 363,873 in 2007 to 399,569 during 2008, an increase of 9.8 per cent.

However, the number of visits to the Island by non-residents fell sharply, from 324,137 to 275,203, over the same period.

Of the total number of visitors, 202,529 were here for leisure purposes, of which 47.9 per cent stayed in paid accommodation, 51.3 per cent with friends and relatives and 0.9 per cent were here on a day visit.

A further 72,674 visitors came to the Island for business purposes.

Including all expenditure on travel, accommodation and purchases whilst here, visitors travelling on scheduled services spent an estimated ?90.3 million on trips to the Island.

Excluding travellers on day trips, visitors stayed an average 5.1 nights in the Island whilst residents spent an average 6.2 nights off the Island.