Seychelles hits the 300,000 visitors bar   |29 November 2022

The new milestone was announced in the National Assembly by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, on Friday last week.

With 296,422 visitor arrivals from January 2022 to the end of week 46, on Sunday, November 20, the destination was left with some 3,578 visitors to hit yet another record for the year.

Seychelles’ success at rebuilding its tourism industry speaks for itself, with the destination reaching a new peak as of Friday, November 25, with an estimate of 300,000 visitors and corresponding estimated tourism earnings of 823 million USD as at October 2022, from figures published by the Central Bank of Seychelles. Since the country’s reopening for international tourism in August 2020, the number of visitors arriving on the shores of the small island destination remains on the rise, almost resuming its pre-pandemic daily average numbers.

In October 2022, the destination surpassed its target for the year, two months ahead of the year’s end.

Making the top of the arrival list from January 2022 to date, Seychelles has seen the constant progression of its traditional source markets, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in first, second and fourth place with 41,332, 40,933 and 19,693 visitors respectively. Meanwhile, Russia remains steady as the 3rd best source market for Seychelles, with 26,408 visitors recorded. 

Speaking about the achievement, the principal secretary for Tourism, Sherin Francis, has said, “We are very pleased to see that the investment made by Tourism Seychelles and the local tourism industry has not been in vain. The numbers are showing today that we have slowly reclaimed our industry. We will continue monitoring the trends as we do not know what tomorrow has in store for us. In the meantime, we remain focused on enhancing our visibility to attract visitors and improving our customers’ experience to retain them,” said Mrs Francis.

On her part, Bernadette Willemin, the director general for Destination Marketing, said that the focus remains on increasing the reach of the destination through our targeted in-person events and digital efforts.

“With international tourism back in full swing, we are enhancing our efforts to increase our visibility in all our markets. We are currently reinforcing our content creation efforts, which will support our digital marketing strategies. On the traditional marketing side, we are keeping our international trade partners engaged with various projects and increasing our participation at international events,” said Mrs Willemin.

Mrs Francis extended her gratitude to the trade for their continuous work to ensure that the destination remains a top choice for visitors.

Estimations from Tourism Seychelles indicate that the destination anticipates closing the year with 330,000 visitors for 2022, only 50,000 arrivals less than the number recorded in 2019.

Press release from Tourism Seychelles