Seychelles welcomed record 208,034 visitors in 2012 |06 January 2013

These figures represent a growth of approximately 8% over those of 2011 and a total of 6992 visitors arrived here during the last week of December 2012.

France still provided the most visitors with 32,190 despite the -18% decrease in the number of guests from this country.

 There were also decreases in the number of visitors from UK and Eire (-15%) and Italy (-8%).

Despite the fall in the number of guests from France and Italy, they remain two of the six leading markets. The other four are Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

The number of visitors from Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates and South Africa increased by 20%, 35%, 52% and 17% respectively.

Russia, United Arab Emirates and South Africa were until a few years ago just secondary markets.

 The fact that they (Russia, United Arab Emirates and South Africa) have now joined the “core markets” means that efforts to diversify our tourism have yielded good dividends as tourism remains the pillar of the Seychelles economy.

Visitors from China also increased by 111% last year, while those from America and Oceania went up by 18% and 12% respectively.