(TAN): The resumption of tourism at Seychelles has seen good response since their international airport opened for chartered and private flights in June 2020 and reopened to scheduled flights on August 1, 2020, the Seychelles Tourism Board claimed.
Speaking to the national broadcaster Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation about the tourism performance since January, the Seychelles Tourism Board CEO Sherin Francis said that by the end of March the country had recorded around 88,000 visitors, which confirmed the predictions of the 3–4% increase made at the beginning of 2020.
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On the way to a slow yet steady recovery from the impact of the worldwide situation, the destination has seen 2,359 visitors from June to August 23, according to the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In July alone, the islands welcomed 475 visitors through chartered private flights with 87% from UAE, followed by Russia with 4% and 3% from the UK.
With the return of scheduled flights from August 1–23, the country recorded 1,754 visitors. According to the NBS figures there were a total number of 1,040 passengers from scheduled flights, and the number of passengers from private flights were 714. Forty-one private planes landed in Seychelles for that same period.
Although the figures may seem smaller compared to the same period for 2019, with a recorded drop of 63% in comparison to the same period, the small but constant amount of visitors arriving is a great step in building the confidence of global travellers and also shows that safe travel is possible. To date, 91,402 visitors have travelled to the islands for the year 2020.
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The STB CEO said that throughout the various surveys conducted by the Market Intelligence team of the STB, the trends and growing travel segment being witnessed was expected.
“Given the current global situation, the numbers are very encouraging. This shows that our communications are reaching its intended target. We hope that as restrictions are relaxed and should the global situation not worsen, that the arrivals figures will improve,” said Francis, adding that the tourism board has been continuously advocating safe tourism.
Seychelles is renowned for its niche market, remaining a favourite amongst both luxury and nature travellers with its secluded location. Mass tourism is promoted.
