THE weather may have been sunny, but last summer was disappointing for York tourism, a report has revealed.

Tourism figures for 2003 show that guest numbers in the city's hotels reached an 11-year low in June.

A report by the Yorkshire Tourist Board showed hotel bed and room occupancy in June was at its lowest since 1992. That same month the city's attractions had 19 per cent fewer visitors than in June 2002.

The report blamed the war in Iraq for putting off visitors from overseas. It also said visitor numbers in June 2002 had been higher than normal because of the extra Jubilee bank holiday.

Tourism also suffered in July. Bed occupancy in hotels was down 3.4 per cent from 2002 while room occupancy was down 2.4 per cent. Visitor attractions had three per cent less tourists than the previous year.

While hotel numbers improved in August and matched 2002, the city's attractions still saw two per cent less people coming through their doors.

The news was more positive for other parts of the year. Attractions had 20 per cent more visitors in May 2003 than the year before, and 17.5 per cent more in April. Bed occupancy was up 6.2 per cent in York hotels in both April and May.

November, which included the popular St Nicholas Fayre, saw a 15.7 per cent increase in visitors to attractions from 2002.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said: "2003 brought some surprises, with hotel occupancy figures for June and July slightly down over the previous year.

"Considering external factors such as the war in Iraq and a strong pound, we were delighted to see a steady increase in the numbers of European visitors to York, though the number of American visitors continues to fall.

"The good news is that the latest figures we have show visitors numbers are steady at approximately four million per annum."

Updated: 10:41 Friday, January 30, 2004