IRT PRESENTS THE ISLAND’S TOURISM INDUSTRY WITH A LOOK BACK AT 2015 AND A LOOK AHEAD FOR 2016
(Posted 04th December 2015)
IRT earlier this week held a working meeting to provide the island’s tourism sector with proposals for activities planned for 2016. At the same time did IRT also present an evaluation of activities conducted in 2015.
Among the 17 local professionals present was the majority of the tourism industry segments represented such as incoming agencies, providers of leisure activities, accommodation and transport providers.
In a move to diversify clientele and address seasonal imbalances of tourist arrivals, IRT had conducted targeted promotional activities in priority markets (France and German-speaking countries) and secondary high-potential markets (China, India, South Africa, Europe) that have borne fruit.
The IRT team began the meeting by presenting the data collected that shows an overall positive balance for the year, mainly showing a 10% growth in tourist arrivals from all markets.
While arrivals from German-speaking countries rose by a massive 19%, the number of tourists from the countries of the Indian Ocean region (India, China, South Africa) made ??an even bigger jump of 32%. Also on the rise were the tourist arrivals from France (+ 2.3%) and other unspecified countries (+ 22%).
These rising numbers are attributed to the various educational tours and press trips organized by the IRT. These discovery tours allowed participants to live a real experience of travel and discovery while learning more about the destination.
The IRT put emphasis particularly on educational tours to enhance the reputation of Reunion with product managers, commercial tour operators and works councils, among others. Through the Challenge of Experts, IRT also targeted travel agents who came to the island to get hands on experience.
In 2015, IRT had funded 49 educational tours including 12 multi tour operators and 37 mixed media and agency personnel. A total of 561 travel agents were trained about destination Reunion. The French market remains as one of the priority markets, and subsequently has IRT organized 22 educational tours for the French network marketing and has trained 350 travel agents from there alone.
High value press trips also helped to strengthen the reputation of Reunion with the hosting of journalists and influential travel bloggers drawn from key producer markets.
The IRT has received throughout 2015 journalists from target markets like France, Europe and countries in the Indian Ocean region (China, India, South Africa).
Press trips focused mostly on the subject of generic information about the island and of course were all related to the volcanic eruptions this year. The images of these eruptions distributed to TV News in France and the rest of the world through global news channels have made ??it possible to reach over 10 million extra viewers.
Moreover, the discovery of the MH370 wing segment attracted major international media to the island. The IRT has strongly mobilized resources at the time to provide them with logistical support and put them in contact with local service providers. Among the media which came to Reunion for this breaking news story were such heavy weights as BBC Global, Xinhua News Agency, France 2, TF1, Al Jazeera and CBS News.
In 2015, the IRT has funded a total of 62 press trips and hosted 178 journalists working for general or specialist media. In terms of quantitative data, this represents 179 million viewers (cumulative audience) and more than 39 million potential readers.
At the meeting with the tourism professionals, the chairman of IRT also explained the activities already approved by the Bureau for the period January to April 2016.
In France, IRT will continue its efforts to publicize the product and the island with participation in key trade fairs and travel salons and the organization of educational tours and press trips.
Actions on German-speaking markets will be strengthened through partnerships with selected tour operators and by being present at salons and through new marketing campaigns.
IRT will also continue promoting the destinations on the Indian market, in China and South Africa with a focus on participation in fairs, organization of road shows and workshops in cooperation with local tour operators. The focus will be on social networks for China (Weibo, WeChat and blog Liuniwang) and South Africa (Facebook, Twitter and blog Welcometoreunionisland).
All three countries benefit from a Visa Waiver Programme which has significantly increased visitor numbers to Reunion.
For added information click on www.reunion.fr
