Boost in visitor arrivals from Russia and China |11 February 2014

The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) has announced that the hard work it has undertaken to develop the Russian and Chinese markets is beginning to pay off.

The local tourism board made the announcement after the release of official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics have shown that 2,425 out of the 18,539 visitors arriving in Seychelles during the first five weeks of the year up to the week ending Sunday February 2, 2014, were from Russia and a whopping 2,740 were from China.

According to the latest figures, there has been an increase of 30% in the number of visitors arriving from Russia when compared to 2013, whereas the Chinese market is the real testament to the numerous strategies the STB has put in place – with its 795% change when compared to the previous year.

According to the STB, winter time is the period where Seychelles generates more business from Russia and this is supported by special charters.

"It is encouraging to record such results and the January figures testify to the continuous marketing efforts deployed by STB and its partners over the years throughout the entire market," said STB representative for Russia and the Nordics, Karen Confait.

"The hard work and the investments that we have put in the world's fastest growing outbound tourism market is slowly but surely bearing fruit for Seychelles and we expect the numbers to keep increasing at a sustainable rate over the coming years,” said STB China manager Jean Luc Lai-Lam.

In addition to Seychelles’ participation in leading trade fairs held in China such as the China International Tourism (CITM) Mart held in Kunming, Yunnan, the STB has also hosted many members of the country’s press, who in turn helped increase Seychelles’ visibility as a holiday destination.

Another bold move during 2013 was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, enabling visitors from China to easily use their credit cards while vacationing in Seychelles using Union Pay.

The agreement between the STB and Union Pay aims to help cooperation on matters of business development, conduct joint promotions, and improve the Seychelles travelling environment and experience with facilitated Chinese-friendly payment.

The board’s chief executive officer, Sherin Naiken also expressed satisfaction at Seychelles tourist arrival figures for this January.

"The January  2014 performance is the result of a strategic decision that was taken a few years ago  for Seychelles to venture into these emerging markets. It important at this point that we equally thank all the partners out there who believed in the potentials of these markets and whose support has been invaluable in developing those markets."