This has been another difficult year for the tourism industry. There has been a marked shortening in the booking period for holidays, which has meant that operators have had great difficulty in predicting the level of business they will experience from month to month. While the latest official figures available from the CSO indicate that the first quarter of 2002 saw an increase of 10.3% on the same period last year, there are other points of concern. While the general level of tourism here has been offset by the increase in the British market, which provided a 6% growth in visitor numbers, the numbers of visitors from the United States and mainland Europe, in particular Germany, have dropped.