Tourist arrivals Another record breaking year for Seychelles |03 December 2016

The number of tourists visiting Seychelles from January to the first week of this month (December) has already surpassed that for last year.

Antonella Lavecchia from Sicily (Italy), is the 276,234th passenger to set foot on Seychelles soil this year, surpassing the 276,233 visitors who arrived in Seychelles for the whole of last year.

To commemorate this great achievement, the chief executive (CEO) of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Sherin Francis greeted and presented a bouquet of flowers plus other tokens to Antonella, who was in the company of her husband Luciano Lavecchia, in a small ceremony at the arrival lounge of the Seychelles International Airport yesterday afternoon.

This was in the presence of the deputy CEO of STB Jeniffer Sinon and other STB staff.

Antonella and Luciano Lavecchia were among the 123 passengers onboard flight DIY 622 Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi.

CEO Francis described the accomplishment as a great achievement and forecasted that we might record 300,000 visitors come year end.
She added that with 272,000 plus visitors visiting Seychelles as at Sunday last week based on statistics from the Seychelles Bureau of Statistics (SBS), they were able to forecast internally as to when the record was to be broken and on which flight that would happen.

She noted that the good performance in the tourism industry was based on aggressive marketing strategy, identifying opportunities and exploiting them to the maximum, very press friendly and above all the very good working relations with all partners in the tourism industry especially with the airlines.  

Upon being told that she had broken the Seychelles visitor arrivals record, Antonella Lavecchia, who is visiting Seychelles for the first time, said very excitedly: “I am very lucky. It’s my birthday today” to the surprise of all present. “It’s a beautiful birthday for me and also a beautiful memory for the future,” added the overjoyed and smiling Antonella who turned thirty years old yesterday. She said that she and her husband chose Seychelles as a good place to relax and they have heard about the landscape, the good cuisine and the culture which they want to learn about.

“It’s paradise for me here. I feel at home. You are very kind and very warm, thank you,” she said.

Amid the sounds of popular song ‘Welcome to the Seychelles’ playing, the Lavecchias and other passengers were entertained by well known singer Jean Ally and guest singer Paul Arrisol.

Antonella Lavecchia and her husband are here on a ten-day holiday and they will be staying at the Chez L’Habitation hotel on Cerf Island.

Apart from visiting Mahé, Praslin and La Digue they hope to make a trip to the mountains.

Currently, there are nine airlines that fly in and out of Seychelles. CEO Francis explained that our principal tourist markets remain more or less the same with France coming out as the main market with over 40,000 visitors followed by Germany with around 38,000 visitors.

She described the year 2016 as a very good year for the tourism industry and she was very thankful to all partners such as the airlines, the hotels, the DMCs (destination management companies) and all other trade partners for contributing to the success.