VISA WAIVER FOR SEYCHELLOIS VISITING CHINA NOW IN EFFECT
(Posted 29th June 2013)
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO THE PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SEYCHELLES
Effective 26th of June can Seychellois citizens, who want to visit China, including Hong Kong, where Air Seychelles flies to three times a week, enter China on a 30 day visitor pass, at no cost and with no hassles on arrival. The deal was signed earlier in the year and makes the Seychelles the first and presently only African country to have such an arrangement in place. The Seychelles have for long opened the doors of the archipelago to visitors from abroad without the need for any Visa, for any nationality for that matter, a factor which has significantly contributed to sharply rising visitor number from China, up 67 percent this year compared to 2012 already, or from countries of the former Soviet bloc, India and in fact from across Africa too. All required to enter the archipelago is a return ticket, a confirmed hotel booking and sufficient funds for upkeep, or in the case of visitors from Africa a Yellow Fever inoculation certificate when coming from areas of prevalence.
While most countries go by the often outdated method of reciprocity, and use Visa fees payable on arrival or in advance of travel as a source of supplementing their national budget, they in fact make travel to their countries difficult, often keeping visitors away, who opt understandably for places to visit where less stringent rules apply.
Perhaps time, in view of this development, for other African countries to re-examine their own Visa policies, especially those countries hustling for more visitors and yet slap them with an entry fee on arrival. Seychelles, truly Another World.
