figures released by the east caribbean central bank (eccb) in 2000 show that total visitor arrivals increased steadily from 470,975 in 1995 to 613,990 in 1998. in 1999 total visitor arrivals declined by about 4.1 percent to 588,866, yet the number of visitors staying at least 1 night or more increased by 1.9 percent over 1998 to total 207,862. arrivals via cruise ships in 1999 dropped to 325,195, a fall of 3.4 percent over 1998. the fall-off in cruise passengers was mainly the result of one of the larger cruise ships being out of service for a brief period. most of the tourists in 1999 came from the united kingdom and the united states. visitor expenditures have increased steadily since 1990, with total expenditures of ec$782.9 million.