Sylvestre Radegonde, minister for foreign affairs and tourism, said the introduction of a grading method next year would ensure more consistent standards for this style of accommodation, which offers an authentic, more budget-friendly experience – and closer interaction with the local owners.

“There’s a perception the Seychelles is all five-star hotels, but smaller hotels and guest houses actually take a greater share of our overall bed stock than larger hotels do,” said Radegonde.

As well as introducing grading for smaller hotels, Radegonde said the ministry planned to look at the overall ratings system for all hotels, with more emphasis on traditional culture.

“Thus far, five stars have been self-allocated – there’s not been a proper assessment,” he said. “Part of our criteria will be to measure how much Creole culture is represented in a hotel’s architecture, food and entertainment.”

Another area of differentiation is community experiences such as dance, language and cooking classes, but he revealed there was some health and safety red tape to overcome in order to scale these up. “When we offer cookery classes, the experience needs to be as authentic as possible – not a five-star kitchen set-up.”

Diversifying source markets is another priority; Russia and Israel are significant markets for the country, and have been impacted by their ongoing conflicts.

“We see huge potential in India and China,” said Radegonde, although he explained the big challenge was connectivity. “Unlike Mauritius and the Maldives, we do not pull the volumes and we can find it difficult to attract airlines. But that doesn’t stop us from identifying alternative source markets and looking for work-arounds.”

He said the preferred solution was to use Air Seychelles, or failing that, regional airlines that have the network – even if indirect. “It’s a fine balance,” he admitted. “We want to preserve our islands where you can still have a beach to yourself.”