The Seychelles is expecting a record tourist arrivals in 2010, according to the Indian Ocean island country’s Tourism National Council.
Alain St Ange, the marketing officer of the council, told reporters on Sunday that the number of arrivals for the first four months represents a growth of 13 percent over last year and 1 percent over 2008, when the Seychelles registered the highest number of visitors.
The good performance of the tourism industry shows that this economic pillar of the archipelago has resisted shocks of global economic recession, or better still, the recent threat to aerial transport by the Iceland volcanic ash.
St Ange attributed the performance to the new tourism policy of the country based on public-private partnership and the strategy of diversification of the source market.
The Seychelles’ tourism guru explained that the new tourism policy was a win-win strategy where the state regulates the industry while the private sector drives the industry.
On diversification, he noted that the Seychelles had succeeded in moving away from its dependence on the traditional European market, thanks to the aggressive work on the emerging markets.
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The strategy has attracted such countries as South Africa, already the sixth source market for the Seychelles. The South African market has the potential of doubling the arrivals since the country is also a hub for visitors from other countries, especially those from the United States. There are also visitors from the Reunion, Kenya, India and China, which constitute the emerging markets with great potential.
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