Tourism review 2017 |30 December 2017

Going from strength to strength

Seychelles’ tourism industry is one that has continued to go from strength to strength in 2017, in spite of its share of challenges.

This year has been hailed as another successful one for the industry that has always been and remains the mainstay of the economy, with yet another record in visitor arrivals.

With only one day remaining for year-end, the number of tourists that have come to Seychelles has increased by 16 percent over last year.

An overview of the overall performance

Across 51 weeks, a total of 340,347 visitors have disembarked in the country, representing the 16 percent increase over 2016, when 293,832 visitors were recorded.

The top six leading markets that have contributed to this amazing figure are Germany, France, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Italy, United Kingdom & Northern Ireland as well as South Africa.

Germany, which since mid-year has surpassed France as the main market has so far sent 49,526 visitors to the island destination.

France is in second place with 40,069 visitors, while a total of 27,843 visitors have come from the UAE, which is settled in third place.

Italy is the fourth leading market with 22,624 visitors ahead of UK with 21,655 and South Africa is the sixth leading market with 13,793 visitors.

There are markets that have recorded a drop in visitor numbers – and that is the case for China and France that have recorded an 18% and 6% decrease, respectively. Nevertheless, the list of source markets showing an increase over 2016 is indeed a very long one.

This great achievement can be attributed to the relentless efforts of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), the Tourism Department and partners that have managed to keep their heads high in spite of unforeseen situations on the international scene and challenges encountered on the domestic front.

STB launches new strategy in China

The Seychelles Tourism Board, which is mandated to promote the destination across the globe has continued with its strategy of tapping into new emerging markets and intensifying its promotional campaigns when it comes to the traditional markets.

China is one market that saw the launch of a new marketing strategy as part of STB’s efforts to reposition Seychelles among the more travel savvy Chinese tourists.

China remains a relatively new, but valued market, which the Seychelles Tourism Board is working to develop to its full potential.

“After five years in the market, STB feels that now is the right time to refocus its attention on the discerning Chinese visitors in the first tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen with their supporting second-tier cities,” said Minister Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, who led the delegation to China in May together with STB Chief Executive Mrs Sherin Francis, to launch the new strategy.

Improved air connectivity

With 11 airlines already serving the Seychelles route making it more accessible to visitors from various corners of the world, 2017 would also be remembered for the announcements of more international carriers flying to the destination in 2018.

Following the landing of Austrian Airlines’ first flight in October this year, British Airways, Air France – through its sister airline ‘Joon’ -- and Edelweiss Air became the latest carriers to announce that they will also be making their way to Seychelles in 2018.

They will be joining Qatar Airways, Turkish Airline, SriLankan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates Airline, Air Seychelles, Condor, Air Austral, Kenya Airways and Etihad Airways.

British Airways will be operating twice-weekly flights to Seychelles from March 2018, Air France’s sister airline ‘Joon’ will join in with its thrice-weekly flights from May 2018, while Edelweiss Air will be flying from Zurich to Seychelles as from September 2018.

The once-weekly service by Edelweiss Air would mean that Seychelles will be having direct flights from three German-speaking countries - Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Ethiopian Airlines has also brought its share of good news for the tourism industry, by adding a sixth weekly flight on the Seychelles route this year.

More flights to the destination translate into increased connectivity from Seychelles’ source markets, as well as choices and flexibility for visitors to our shores.

The STB chief executive’s perspectives

For Sherin Francis, chief executive of STB, 2017 has been a positive year, with positive trends recorded, in spite of challenges met along the way.

She has underlined the positive performance of most individual markets and new upcoming direct flights from some key European markets, which she has attributed to the collective efforts and engagement of all partners.

“In terms of the individual performance of our markets there are some where the performance has been extremely good, like Germany, where the recorded growth is by a wide margin,” said Mrs Francis

“We are also happy to see that we have been successful in our strategy to grow other markets and ensure that we are not only dependent on Europe, we have source markets like the United Arab Emirates that have performed extremely well and is currently our third leading market. The whole Middle East region is in fact quite a sizeable market. And when you add all of our small markets together the strategy has ensured that we have a good balance across all of our markets,” she added.

Addressing the challenges, Mrs Francis cited the last minute booking trend for some markets. While China has always been a last minute booking market, France also witnessed a similar trend in 2016.

“As all our markets have performed extremely well this year, and a lot of those performing markets book early, this has meant that visitors from France, based on supply and demand, have reduced a bit,” she said.

Recent violence and attacks against tourists is another challenge, which the STB chief executive believes could affect Seychelles’ image as a safe destination if not dealt with accordingly and in a timely manner.

As we get ready to step into 2018, Mrs Francis said STB will be launching several major campaigns on the markets that will be having new direct flights, while also focussing on two markets -- Italy and North America – that have shown great potential although constrained by a lack of direct flights.

“North America for example has improved with increased flights to Seychelles which provides options for American travellers, and with the arrival of British Airways next year, we believe it will be one of the most convenient accesses. Both markets have grown in 2017 and there’s been increased interest from the partners, so a little bit more attention and strategic focus together with our partners we will be able to obtain better results for the two markets in the coming year. When it comes to visitor arrivals we are targeting an 8-10% increase in 2018,” said Mrs Francis.

A look at the achievement of the tourism department

In 2017, the tourism department saw the conclusion of a consultancy project undertaken with the support of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for a new hotel classification system.

The project was aimed at developing criteria for a star rating system and pilot testing of 52 hotels of 16 rooms and above.

Through this exercise, hoteliers were given an insight into how the formal assessments will be carried out and where their respective properties fell within the grading system. Areas requiring improvement were also highlighted.

The tourism department also pilot tested 70 small accommodation businesses that fall under the Seychelles Secrets brand, which was developed in 2005 to showcase and better sell the smaller tourism accommodations in Seychelles.

A Tourism Development Bill for the department has been drafted – the legislation will ensure that the classification of hotels becomes part of the tourism department’s function.

Work to mainstream sustainability within the tourism sector continued in 2017 and there has been an increase in the number of applications for the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL) certification. Presently, there are 15 SSTL certified hotels.

Furthermore, an extensive exercise to identify all illegal tourism establishments operating in the country was conducted by the tourism department in 2017. In a move to tackle the issue, the department has given some 200 illegal accommodations a period of three months until March 12, 2018, to regularise their activities.

The tourism department is working with other authorities including the Seychelles Licensing Authority, Department of Police, Department of Immigration and the Seychelles Revenue Commission, to ensure that they comply.

Technical assistance was also received from UNWTO for the development of a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for Seychelles to better capture all data and statistics in order to know the real contribution of tourism towards the country’s economy and to assist the department in developing policies based on better informed and reliable statistical data.

In addition, a policy for motorised and non-motorised water sports has been approved following an extensive consultation process with both the public and the private sector. The policy will be implemented in line with the Beach Control Act, which is currently being amended by the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration (SMSA).

A new section -- the Tourism Human Resource Development (THRD), which focuses on service delivery, retention of Shannon College Graduates in the hotels among others, was also introduced this year.

The section has also worked on a number of training for tourism commission agents and tour guides so that they can provide the highest standard of service in areas of customer care, salesmanship, and cultural awareness. Refresher courses for licensed tour guides from Praslin and La Digue operating at the Vallée De Mai were also organised.

The THDR section has also worked with the mentors’ committee for Shannon College graduates – these are students who follow the Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management course offered by the Seychelles Tourism Academy in collaboration with the Shannon College in Ireland. The mentors’ committee oversees the career development of Shannon college Graduates.

A survey was conducted among the graduates to establish their progress, challenges and career development, which would help the tourism department to better manage this course and its graduates.

Nevertheless, 2017 has brought its share of challenges for the tourism department, including the increase in criminal acts against tourists, where the tourism department has had to intervene to ensure that the affected visitors receive the required assistance so as to protect and preserve the country’s reputation. The tourism department had to intervene in a total of 58 cases during the course of 2017.

The department has also been working with various other partners since the beginning of the year to sensitise visitors on some safety precautions to reduce the risk of becoming victims of crimes.

A sensitisation leaflet on preventive measures that touch on crime, swimming safety tips, among other information, been developed in collaboration with the relevant authorities.

Through the risk section, the tourism department has also recorded a number of complaints regarding issues that are affecting the tourism industry. All of these issues have been taken up by the section that has conducted meetings and site visits together with the relevant authorities to find ways of addressing these complaints.

The perspective of the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine

For Minister Maurice Loustau-Lalanne aside from the growth in tourism numbers recorded through arrivals by air as well as increased cruise ship visits this year, there has also been a major improvement in tourism earnings.

While arrival numbers have increased by 16 percent, tourism earnings have also increased by 20 percent.

Minister Loustau-Lalanne has also highlighted efforts to have more bilateral air agreements with other countries.

“The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority has also signed bilateral air service agreements with seven new countries in 2017 and this will prepare the ground for us to receive more airlines in the future if they so decide to serve Seychelles. There is the new domestic terminal at the airport which is now open with the second part scheduled to be ready in operation in July 2018,” said the minister.

“At the ports, we are having some 42 port calls over the current cruise ship season with just under 50,000 visitors. And key to this, we have secured financing for the port extension project which will start in earnest early 2019 for completion at the end of 2020, beginning 2021,” he said.

In the face of all those positive trends, Minister Loustau-Lalanne has called for an improvement in the level of service being provided to the visitors.

“We need to improve the service level in most sectors so we can ensure value for money. If we continue to grow at the pace we are growing we have to improve the service. We cannot be fleecing visitors and not giving a good service. Otherwise, I believe the industry is on a good footing, we have enabled for Seychellois to invest more in terms of money and in terms of working in the industry,” he said.

 “There are many examples, one of them is that we have helped small hotels to extend their businesses by including extra rooms for them to be more profitable. There are many projects coming up so we can match the air capacity which at the moment is not synchronised with the number of beds available,” the minister added.

With regards to the targeted growth, Minister Loustau-Lalanne added that there is a need to set new challenges and target for the years ahead ─ the ultimate goal is to achieve 500,000 visitors and $700 million in tourism earnings by 2021, with a particular focus on high-end tourists to help attain this target.

While Seychelles prides itself as a destination that can attract visitors seeking true exclusivity and great luxury at a price, there is also much effort being done to promote the destination as an affordable holiday location for individuals and families.

The minister has said that there is also a need to pay attention to occupancy in the small hotels in 2018.

Increased visibility through digital platforms and other publications

Some of the new publications launched this year

Both the Seychelles Tourism Board and tourism department now located under the same roof at Botanical House, Mont Fleuri, have been proactive in being more visible and accessible to the public and their partners in 2017.

STB launched its corporate website -- www.seychellestourismboard.travel -- which features organisational details of STB, including its corporate structure, members of the board, industry events such as trade fairs, workshops and roadshows, tourism arrival statistics, vacancies, newsletter, corporate press releases and other tourism-related news, among other contents.

The tourism department has also launched its official website -- www.tourism.gov.sc -- provides details of the different sections within the department, statistics, products maintained by the tourism department, news, among other information.

New publications were also launched this year, including the Absolute Seychelles magazine produced by a UK-based company, aimed at enhancing visitors’ knowledge of the ins and outs of the destination. STB also launched the first official guide to hiking in Seychelles in Paris, which has been followed by the launch of a leaflet providing useful tips for a safer experience while exploring the walks and trails, produced by the tourism department.

Throughout this year, STB has kept soaring higher into the digital marketing world, giving Seychelles greater visibility on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms. STB also saw the production of what has been dubbed its most successful destination video produced by UNILAD. The video has gone viral exceeding 2.5 million views.

Accolades kept coming

STB and the tourism trade have also clinched several awards this year, which shows that Seychelles, though small in size, remains visible and relevant as a tourist destination.

For the third consecutive year, STB was named the Indian Ocean’s Leading Tourist Board, while Seychelles was voted the Indian Ocean’s Leading Cruise Destination for the fourth consecutive year by the World Travel Awards.

The national airline, Port authority, and several hotels were also proud winners at this year’s World Travel Awards.

And most recently, Seychelles also scooped the Favourite Beach/Island Destination accolade at the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice awards 2017.

As the year 2017 comes to an end, it is only fitting that we are mindful of the fact that a lot of money is being invested in tourism, the industry that remains our bread and butter, and that as a nation we all need to play our part in ensuring that we protect and preserve the image of the destination for the continued success of the industry..

While the marketing strategies are key, let us be mindful that the tourists themselves are the greatest ambassadors of our tourism industry. Happy and satisfied visitors will undoubtedly have good stories to share with families and friends. So let us continue to offer them a high level of service and one that comes from the heart filled with the Creole warmth.