How the Seychelles Is Courting the World’s Wealthiest Travelers

For decades, the Maldives has been the poster child for Indian Ocean escapism. Its overwater villas, cerulean lagoons, and barefoot butlers have become synonymous with the tropical island fantasy, and last year, an all-time high of 2 million visitors touched down on its sugar-white sands. But nearly a thousand miles southwest, on the jungle-covered islands of the Seychelles, an upsurge in marquee hotel openings and increased flight connections is beginning to court its biggest spenders.

In 2024, this African archipelagic nation, a thousand miles east of the continent’s mainland, welcomed a little more than 350,000 international arrivals. It’s a fraction of the Maldives’ numbers, but that’s exactly the point. The Seychelles’ 115 islands have long embraced a high-value, low-impact approach to tourism, prioritizing sustainability and per-capita spend over mass arrivals. According to the Seychelles Tourism Board, the industry (indirectly) accounts for nearly 70 percent of GDP, boosted by top-spending markets such as France, Germany, and, more recently, the United Arab Emirates.

While tour operators still await the reinstatement of Air France’s direct flight from Paris (a pandemic casualty, and the main stopover for U.S. travelers), the archipelago’s flight connections with other global hubs are growing steadily. This May, flag carrier Air Seychelles launched direct links with Abu Dhabi, while airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways have firmed up their grip on inbound routes from the Middle East. In October, Lufthansa’s Discover Airlines will launch a direct connection from Frankfurt. Meanwhile, India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has started connecting Mumbai to Mahé since March, and Sichuan Airlines now has seasonal charter flights from Chengdu, cutting travel time from China in half. 

On arrival, travelers have even more options to check into, including Mango House, flying Hilton’s LXR flag, which set up a small village of breezy suites along the azure coastline of southwest Mahé island in 2021. Laïla, part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio, followed with an 84-room resort along the honey-hued sands of nearby Anse Royale in 2023. On Praslin island arrived the exclusive-use La Cigale Estate, a nine-bedroom, $10,000-a-night hidey-hole along Côte d’Or beach. Meanwhile, Waldorf Astoria took over the whole of birdlife-rich Platte Island (a 20-minute turboprop flight from Mahé airport) in late 2024 with 50 enormous private pool villas, a handful of excellent bars and restaurants, and a tome-thick activity book that includes sunset champagne cruises, fishing expeditions, expert-guided padel classes and nature walks with the resort’s resident biologist. 

Still, nowhere signals the archipelago’s shift into the upper echelons of Indian Ocean hospitality better than the arrival of Cheval Blanc Seychelles, which opened on the northwest coast of Mahé last December (and landed on Robb Report’s list of the World’s 50 Best Luxury Hotels shortly after). Like Cheval Blanc’s Maldivian outpost, the sixth ‘Maison’ of this LVMH-owned ultra-luxury brand comes from the drawing board of starchitect Jean-Michel Gathy, who took inspiration from the surrounding landscapes to create a hideaway heavy on straight lines, white-washed woods, and eye-popping ocean views. 

Each of the 52 sprawling villas, whether stilted on the jungle-cloaked hillside or pitched up in tropical gardens near the beach, feels more like a private residence than a resort suite. Breezy interiors balance local crafts—coconut wood, wicker, and mother-of-pearl inlays—with creature comforts such as open-plan living rooms, outdoor rain showers, and private pools large enough to swim laps in. The spa, built between mammoth-sized granite boulders, offers Guerlain rituals infused with native botanicals, while the resort’s five restaurants run the gamut from fine French to Mediterranean, pan-Asian, and Creole comfort food. There are activities aplenty, but with four communal pools and a dreamy beach out front, a stay can be as active or laid-back as guests decide to make it.

“The experience here is completely different from what we offer in the Maldives,” says general manager Sébastien Gillard. “There, you’re surrounded by water. Here, you’re surrounded by jungle. You step outside, and the forest is alive. You hear the birds, the wind, the waves, you’ve got nature on your doorstep.” Beyond the natural immersion, Gillard sees the Seychelles as a compelling alternative to the Maldives in other ways. “The time zone’s only two hours from Europe, which means less jet lag,” he says. “It’s not a place where you’re stuck on an island. You can hop in a car, explore villages, or take the heli out to nearby islands like Praslin or La Digue. It’s not just a beach holiday.”

That flexibility is one of the big selling points for Thomas Cahalan, co-founder of UHNW trip designer Dorsia Travel. “Personally, I prefer the Seychelles [over the Maldives],” he says. “There’s more to explore. There’s the vastness of the islands, the wildness—and wildlife—of the landscapes, and the possibility of hopping between islands without much hassle.” While the arrival of Cheval Blanc has put it at the front of his clients’ minds, he sees it as a starting shot for what’s to come. “I frequently tell clients that the Seychelles is one of the most beautiful destinations in the world, but it’s still massively underrepresented in the luxury market. And with so many options already, the Maldives will at some point not be able to sustain more luxury resorts.” 

Developments in the pipeline seem to underscore the Seychelles’ high-spend, low-volume tourism strategy. Next year will see the highly anticipated reopening of the legendary Fregate Island, which closed down in 2022 for a top-to-bottom rebuild, and will return with just 17 villas built from glass, stone, and lightwood. On the northwestern coast of little-visited Silhouette Island, the team behind Kenya’s ultra-luxe Arijiju lodge has a beach retreat in the works, while on the remote Assomption Island in the UNESCO-protected Aldabra island group, Qatar-based Assets Group is constructing a 37-villa resort complex rumored to be managed by Rosewood (though not without controversy).  

Whether the Maldives is ready to give up its top spot in the Indian Ocean remains to be seen (especially with outposts by Rosewood, Bulgari, and Aman in the works), but with its equally star-spangled resort roadmap, the Seychelles is clearly stepping into the scene.