IN 2012, visitor arrivals in Seychelles stood at 208,034. In 2013, the figure increased an impressive 10.7 per cent to 230,272, as confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics. The Central Bank of Seychelles has also confirmed that their estimates for tourism earnings in 2013 to have reached US$ 343.6 million – an increase of 11 per cent over 2012 figures.
Speaking after the figures were released, Alain St. Ange, the minister responsible for tourism and culture says, “The strategy in place for marketing Seychelles was working. The annual marketing meeting where the industry’s private sector and the government sit together to plan the year ahead was bringing the results we all wanted and expected.”
The country as a whole now needs to move to benefit more from the tourism business and in so doing increase the yield from tourism. “As a country we are often confused with regards to the yield derived from tourism. The government does not set hotel rates, this is done by the respective establishments and they charge depending on what they feel they can charge when faced by competition, not here but in the region and in the world at large. We have to work to reinvest, to upgrade so as to get a better rate, but at the same time we need to think outside the box and get more activities and facilities for our visitors to use and appreciate. We need to provide more for them to do so they are able to spend. The state will be proactive facilitators, but it is the private sector that now needs to grab opportunities that are up for grab and in so doing increase the country’s yield from tourism.”