ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR SEYCHELLES’ TOURISM
(Posted 03rd December 2016)
As of yesterday was the previous arrival record of 276.233 passengers relegated to history when new arrivals at the Seychelles International Airport on Mahe received more visitors.
With a full month ahead, and December being normally a period when travel to the archipelago from cold Europe intensifies, is the magical 300.000 arrival mark now truly within reach, as the increase in arrivals in 2016 over the previous year has exceeded the 10 percent margin.
Seychelles Tourism Board CEO Mrs. Sherin Francis and her deputy Ms. Jennifer Sinon were at the airport yesterday to officially welcome the ‘record breaker‘ a couple from Italy.
Tourism stakeholders, while continuing to face a challenging cost environment, have expressed their support for the tourism board’s global marketing initiatives which has seen not just visitor number increase but which also brought new airlines to fly to the Seychelles, among them Turkish Airlines and soon also Qatar Airways, the latter launching daily flights in less than 10 days from Doha.
Some stakeholders expressed their hope that the trend can continue in 2017 which has seen uninterrupted growth since 2009, when the Seychelles Tourism Board was fundamentally restructured.
France and Germany remain Seychelles’ leading tourist source markets with a combined nearly 80.000 visitors but emerging markets have caught up such as China, which is already in the top five of countries of origin for tourists coming to the islands.
‘The income from tourism has to spread through all segments and has to reach especially those who put live savings into holiday lets, guest houses and small enterprises like taxis or boats. The government has promoted greater participation of Seychellois in the hospitality and tourism industry in the past years. They have stopped large scale new developments in favour of locally owned smaller properties. That is good but we need more promotion, more marketing for these kind of properties like guest houses and self catering. Besides that I only pray that our politics remain guided by common sense and that no bad politics come into play next year which could threaten our tourism success‘ said a regular contributor when sharing the latest arrival record before adding ‘I think we have a great team at STB and at the ministry and I am glad that the new president has retained them all. Success breeds success and one does not change horses in the middle of a race‘
More information about Destinations Seychelles, including links to ‘Seychelles Secrets‘ and other lower cost accommodation across the islands, can be accessed via www.seychelles.travel
