(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles islands are welcoming record tourist arrivals from Russia and China at the beginning of 2014, says the Seychelles Tourism Board in a statement issued this afternoon.

Out of 18,539 visitors disembarking on the Indian Ocean archipelago during the first five weeks of the year, 2,425 were from Russia and 2,740 were from China, according to official figures released by Seychelles Bureau of Statistics.

“There has been an increase of 30 percent in the number of visitors arriving from Russia compared to 2013, whereas "the Chinese market is the real testament to the numerous strategies the STB has put in place – with its 795 percent change when compared to the previous year," says STB in the statement.

"The January 2014 performance is the result of strategic decision taken a few years ago for Seychelles to venture into these emerging market,” says the CEO of STB Sherin Naiken.

STB says the bulk of Russian tourists come to Seychelles during wintertime with visitors arriving on board chartered flights.

"It is encouraging to record such results, the January figures testify to the continuous marketing efforts used by the STB and its partners over the years throughout the entire market," said the STB representative for Russia and the Nordics, Karen Confait.

"The hard work and the investments that we have put in the world's fastest growing outbound tourism market are slowly but surely bearing fruit for the Seychelles, and we expect the numbers to keep increasing at a sustainable rate over the coming years,” said the STB representative for China Jean Luc Lai-Lam.

Official visitor arrival figures from NBS for 2013 shows that France followed by Germany and Italy were the leading tourism markets for Seychelles.

                                           Country                    Visitor Arrivals

                                            1. France                    35,698
                                            2. Germany                 33,424
                                            3. Italy                         21,662
                                            4. Russia                     14,125
                                            5. UAE                        13,836
                                            6. South Africa             13,212
                                            7. UK & Eire                12,514
                                            8. China                        7,714