VISITORS weighed down by £92 million of spending money descended on York in droves last year.

New figures show that nearly four million people came to the city - an increase of 75,000 on the previous year.

However, the report by the First Stop York Tourism Partnership covers the period between April 2004 and March 2005 - after which visitors numbers started to fall in the build-up to Royal Ascot.

The figures remained down on the year before during the prestigious event and in the aftermath.

Gillian Cruddas of the York Tourism Bureau, said the picture was looking brighter thanks to successful events such as the Food & Drink Festival, while future bookings were also good.

"We got off to a good start this year. Then we were down by seven per cent in April to June and 2.5per cent down in July," she said.

Several factors were to blame, including consumer confidence in light of interest rates, competition from low-cost airlines and an unfavourable exchange rate for overseas visitors, she said.

York Tourism Bureau is part of First Stop York Tourism Partnership along with City of York Council and York Hospitality Association with support from Yorkshire Tourist Board and Yorkshire Forward.

Its survey shows that a quarter of visitors last year were from outside the UK, compared with 19 per cent the year before, showing that the overseas market was beginning to recover.

Many visitors also come back more than once - 78 per cent had been to the city before and 63 per cent enjoyed York more than other places, while only one per cent did not.

Shops were a big part of the appeal, with visitors spending £92 million every year.

But direct spending on visitor attractions was down by £1.5 million to £23 million compared with the figures for 2003 figures.

Mrs Cruddas said the fall in visitor attraction numbers was a national trend.

"We are no different to other cities. We have to be creative about how to promote them on the back of exhibitions and events, and find new ways to bring people in."

The average stay by visitors - now just over three nights - has increased by 11 per cent from 1993-2004, during which spending has also increased by 38 per cent.

As a result, employment has grown by 5.5 per cent since 1993.

More older people were coming to York with 41 per cent of visitors aged over 55 in 2004-05 compared with 28 per cent three years ago.

Updated: 09:33 Wednesday, September 28, 2005