Seychelles braces for record breaking number of tourists in 2017 |30 December 2017

2017 is proving to be Seychelles’ greatest year yet in terms of tourist arrivals with a figure of 340,347 visitors up to December 24.

This data, provided by the National Bureau Statistics (NBS), does not only surpass that of 2016’s 293,832 by 16% but also indicates that Seychelles expects to reach a record breaking number of tourists by the end of the year.

Meanwhile the number of holidaymakers visiting the Seychelles in 2017 was 17% above the 2016 level, those who travelled for the purpose of business or a combination of business and holidays decreased by 4% below the 2016 level and the number in transit increased by 25% above the 2016 level.

As always Europe remains our top market and has seen a whooping boost of 15% increase compared to the same period in 2016.

An analysis of arrival 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 (17%), Russia (16%) and Italy (5%).

Brexit, it would seem, has surprisingly not affected the number of visitors coming in from the European Union (EU).

However the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, during the Seychelles Tourism Board’s (STB) 2017 end of year marketing seminar, expressed his willingness to reinvigorate the Italian market in order to gain more visitors from that region.

“Italy is a country of great potential for us and we must find ways to tap into that market.  We can even send in seasonal direct flights to Italy, if need be,” he asserted.

Other continents also pulled in extra visitors compared to 2016 with Africa increasing by 9%, 18% for Asia, 23% from Oceania and 54% upsurge from the American market.

Overall our leading markets to date are: Germany, France, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Italy, UK & Northern Ireland and South Africa (see accompanying graph).

The economy has also been helped with the surge in numbers of visitors throughout the year as the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) recently revealed that our tourism revenue has recorded an impressive and positive growth of 16%.