Visitor arrivals increase by 19 percent from 2022
A total of 334,552 visitors arrived in Seychelles over last year, way above the 218,000 to 258,000 target set by the department toward the beginning of the year
Despite the persisting heavy rains and strong winds, visitors are still flocking to Seychelles in their numbers, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
During the first week, a total of 5852 set foot on Seychelles turf, representing an increase of 3 percent in arrivals as compared to the first week of 2022.
Despite the fact that the majority of arrivals were from Europe, at 73 percent of all visitors, the region saw a significant decline of 14 percent as compared to 2022, while all other regions recorded an increase in arrivals.
With 606 arrivals from Africa, and 789 from Asia, the figures are considerable increases from last year, at 157 percent and 140 percent respectively.
Visitors from the Oceania region increased from 3 during the first week of 2022 to 14 during the first week of this year, a whopping 367 percent increase, while arrivals from America saw a 54 percent increase.
As was the case last year, the majority of visitors, precisely 1261, hailed from Russia, followed by Germany who contributed 10 percent of arrivals, followed by France at 7 percent. From the African region, the majority of visitors have arrived from South Africa, and from neighbouring French-territory Reunion island.
Analysis of the purpose of visit indicates that 98 percent of visitors who arrived in the first week came for holidays.
The momentum was sustained throughout the second week ending January 15, 2023, whereby 4894 visitors landed in Seychelles, an increase of 17 percent as compared to week 2 of 2022.
Increases were recorded from all regions, namely, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and America, with the Oceania region seeing an increase of 500 percent from last year. The Asian region saw an increase of 128 percent, 116 percent in visitors arriving from Africa and overall increase of 45 percent in arrivals from America.
As with the first week of the year, 73 percent of all visitors were from Europe. Russia, Germany and France remained the top contributors during the past week, with Russia contributing 16 percent of visitor while 12 percent were from Germany.
Over the course of the first couple of weeks, a total of 11,669 visitors landed in Seychelles, an increase of 19 percent from the same period in 2022.
The vast majority of visitors came for holiday, at 96 percent.
As highlighted by the Tourism department at the 2022 Annual Performance Review last week, it is hoped that arrivals will be maintained at 330,000 throughout the year, in the face of projected challenges as many of the world’s economies suffer from inflation, while others are either experiencing or heading for recession.
A total of 334,552 visitors arrived in Seychelles over last year, way above the 218,000 to 258,000 target set by the department toward the beginning of the year. The target was exceeded two months ahead of the end of the year, during the month of October.
