Northern Ireland visitor figures

Numbers of inbound visitors to Northern Ireland's hotels fell by 21,000 to 435,000 in 1997 against the previous year, rather than by a total of 435,000 as reported last week.

The problems facing the hospitality industry are the same today as they were 90 years ago, says the British Hospitality Association (BHA).

In the BHA's latest annual report, chief executive Jeremy Logie writes: "It has certainly been a turbulent near-century. So much has changed since those early days, yet the same arguments keep reappearing."

Examples listed include tax, employment and relations with Government.

Deputy chief executive Martin Couchman hoped the "legislative indigestion" of the past year would settle: "Times have moved on but history does keep repeating itself, and with a new Government there have been a lot of proposals in the pipeline. As we approach the millennium, our main concern is to continue to have an increasing influence on Government."