B. Tourism in Seychelles
Two landscapes have led to the initiation and growth of tourism in Seychelles:
- Physical Landscape:
- Climate- The tropical climate of Seychelles is found to be attractive by tourists, for tanning, relaxation and even to get away from illnesses such as asthma.
- Beaches-the sandy white beaches present around many islands have been sought after by tourists.
- Coral Reefs and Marine creatures- Seychelles offers diving opportunities and since coral and marine fauna are abundant, tourists keep on coming to dive.
- Flora and Fauna: Seychelles has many endemic species of plants and animals. Tourists come to see these specimens (mostly animals). Well known attractions are Black Parrots, giant tortoises, the coco-de-mer species and numerous birds.
- Human Landscape
- People’s attitudes- The friendly and hospitable attitudes of locals towards tourists is a plus for tourism because foreigners feel welcome and at ease while on vacation.
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Amenities- Tourism related services are ever-present in Seychelles. Examples are accommodation, eateries, car rentals, travel agents. As of 2007, there were 28 large hotels, 78 small hotels/guest houses and 64 self-catering establishments.
- Culture- Tourists find Seychellois culture interesting. The cuisine of varied ancestry, traditional dances and music draw tourists. Other attractions are historical monuments and sites (e.g. Clock Tower and Plantations). A variety of local crafts are available for visitors to take home as well.
Clock Tower Varied Cuisine A Painting
C. Trend in the number of tourists from 2000 to 2008
Starting from 130,000 visitors in 2000, the number decreased very slightly to 129,800 in 2001. A small increase followed with 132,200 visitors in 2002. For the next two years, there were alarming losses in the number of tourists, with a sharp slump in 2003 with only 122,000 tourists visiting Seychelles, followed by another decrease with 120,800 visitors in 2004. After 2004, things began looking up as numbers increased to the stable figure of 128,700 in 2005. The year 2006 showed another significant increase in the number of visitors with a total of 140,600. The highest number of visitors recorded in this period was in 2007, when 161,300 tourists visited Seychelles. Following the pattern, another increase can be expected in 2008.
Market Areas
In terms of continent, Europe has been the major market throughout, with about 80 percent of the number of visitors every year. This is followed by Africa, with an average of 10 percent of the number of visitors. Third, fourth and fifth places are occupied by Asia, America and Oceania with 5, 3 and 0.5 percent of the average number of visitors respectively.
In terms of country, the largest contributor of tourists is France which accounts for an average of 21% of the total number of visitors. Following France are Italy, UK & Eire and Germany with averages of 16, 14 and 13 percent respectively.
D. Advantages and Disadvantages of Tourism in Seychelles
Advantages
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Income: Every year, tourism contributes hundreds of millions of rupees into the country’s economy. The following table shows yearly statistics of tourist expenditure according to central bank estimates.
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Foreign exchange: as mentioned before, tourism amounts to 70%of the country’ yearly foreign exchange. This money is then used to import goods for the locals and other uses.
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Employment: Tourism directly employs 15% of the formal workforce in activities like barmaids, waiters, and waitresses. There is a lot of indirect employment because of tourism, such s car hires, fishing to supply hotels.
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Development of infrastructure and facilities: New infrastructure (buildings, roads) and facilities (e.g.: shopping complexes) which are developed mainly for tourists may also be used by locals.
Disadvantages
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Seasonal Unemployment: Tourism tends to be more active at particular times of the year. During low arrival seasons, people may lose their jobs temporarily as profits are not enough to maintain those jobs.
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Congestion and shortage of services and goods: Since services such as water and electricity and goods such as food have to be shared between locals and tourists, shortages and congestions (blockages) might be experienced.
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Cultural Problems: The local culture may be affected by the infiltration of foreign ideology and culture. For example, youths may no longer want to participate in cultural activities.
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Pollution: Tourist related industries might emit waste into the environment, for example, cars hired by tourists will emit extra gases into the atmosphere. Otherwise, tourists could directly pollute the environment by littering.
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Damage to the environment: In addition to pollution, the building of infrastructure (hotels, roads etc.) is damaging to the environment as it alters the process of nature. When tourists or tourist activities barge into unspoiled areas, animal life is disturbed and plants cut down.
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Under-use of facilities: Sometimes the facilities available could be greater than demand, especially in low arrival seasons. In this case, money may be unnecessarily spent actually maintaining these facilities (e.g.: maintaining empty hotel rooms). The initial investment of creating these facilities may even go to waste.
E. The role of the Seychelles Tourism Board and the Seychelles Tourism Academy in promoting and developing tourism in Seychelles
Seychelles Tourism Board: This is the main organisation concerned with tourism in Seychelles. It is responsible for collecting and studying tourism-related data. According to this data, it takes action to improve, balance and/or develop different services or sectors of tourism. It also advertises and promotes Seychelles’ tourism in other countries.
Seychelles Tourism Academy: This academy trains locals for tourism related jobs (barmaid, waiter, hotel manager). Its role in developing tourism is to create a skilled workforce for employment in the field.
Conclusion
Tourism, being an important part of the economy of Seychelles, should be developed further. However, there has to be a limit to the number of tourists. This means that tourism should be developed in a sustainable manner, that is, in a way that the industry can be continued in the future without permanently straining resources.
