The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) has reported an increase in arrivals to the Indian Ocean archipelago for the first half of this year, up two percent from the same time last year. The announcement was made by STB CEO, Sherin Francis, who said arrivals were slightly below predictions.
Francis was speaking at the annual mid-year marketing meeting where local DMCs, tour operators and hoteliers met with STB officials and members of the tourism ministry.
Francis said, although arrivals were below predictions, Seychelles had fared well. Since January, Germany, France and the UK led visitor arrivals. Germany saw an eight percent increase from last year, with France and Italy also growing by three and six percent respectively. Russia, United Arab Emirates and South Africa have all seen a decline.
Francis noted a drop of 18% in Russian visitors from the same time last year. This, she said, could be attributed to the FIFA World Cup as well as the value of Russia’s currency. “Russians are travelling within Russia to watch the matches. We also see other potential visitors from Europe, as well as other markets, travelling to Russia to support their teams,” Francis explained.
She said the STB intended to maintain this strong performance and “maybe increase up to four or five percent”.
“What I am saying is backed by the information I am getting from forward bookings, which show, for instance, that we can pick up with the UAE market.”
