Record 349,861 visitors land in Seychelles in 2017 |06 January 2018

A total of 349,861visitors came to Seychelles during the year 2017, making it a new record.

During the last week of 2017, 9,514visitors landed in Seychelles and this helped to bring the count to 15% above the 303,177 figures of 2016 according to statistics released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Overall visitor arrivals from Europe increased by 15% compared to the same period in 2016.

An analysis of arrivals by country of residence shows significant increases in visitors from the main European markets. Increases were recorded in visitors from Germany (28%), UK & Northern Ireland (16%), Russia (15%) and Italy (4%). A decrease of 5% was recorded in visitors from France.

Visitors from Africa increased by 8% in 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. An increase of 15% was recorded in the number of visitors from South Africa.

Asia recorded an increase of 16% in visitor arrivals. United Arab Emirates recorded an increase of 17% and visitors from China decreased by 17%.

Visitors from Oceania increased by 23% whereas from America, an increase of 52% was recorded in visitors compared to the same period of 2016.

The leading markets to date are: Germany 50,476, France 41,118, United Arab Emirates 28,209, Italy 23,716, UK & Northern Ireland 21,991, and South Africa 14,203.

The statistics also show that the number of holidaymakers visiting Seychelles in 2017 was 17% above the 2016 level. The number of visitors on business or combining business with a holiday decreased by 4% below the 2016 level and the number of visitors in transit  increased by 24% above the 2016 level.