(Posted 14th November 2026)
While visitor arrivals in Seychelles have shown signs of recovery since mid year have the total number of visitors remained below last year’s levels, according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Victoria.
The latest NBS bulletin, released on the 11th of November, shows that 316,434 visitors arrived in Seychelles up to the 08th of November, representing a decline of 6.3% overall compared with the 337,554 visitors recorded during the same period last year.
The figures show an improvement in visitor arrivals during the second half of the year following several months of declining arrivals earlier in 2026, particularly between March and June, when some of the largest decreases were recorded. This decline is attributed to the repeated airspace closures in the Middle East, with key hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha closed due to the war between the US, Israel and Iran.
Visitor arrivals during that time fell by 37.2% in March, 28.4% in April and 24.8% in June compared with the same months in 2025.
The situation began improving in July, with arrivals started to exceed the previous year’s figures, followed by stronger growth in August and September.
According to NBS, arrivals increased by 1.8% in July, followed by a 14.1% increase in August and a 6.1% rise in September.
The positive trend continued into October, when 41,242 visitors arrived in Seychelles, almost identical to the 41,238 recorded a year earlier.
The latest trend suggests that visitor arrivals have stabilised after a difficult first half of the year, although the improvement has not yet been sufficient to offset the earlier losses.
A source in Victoria said to ATCNews that at best the country can expect to level last year’s arrival numbers though a slight reduction in visitor numbers would be more likely, as too little time remained before the end of the year.
