REUNION – FRANCE’S NUMBER ONE DOMESTIC DESTINATION
(Posted 18th October 2015)
(Reunion’s main airport Roland Garros International at St. Denis, the island’s capital)
The latest ‘travel barometer’ availed by IRT, Ile de la Reunion Tourisme, for August shows some amazing upturn in journeys and passenger numbers from the French mainland.
The data reaffirm the optimism expressed by the island’s tourism industry which expects a record year after being constantly in the news around the world.
The SNAV barometer / Atout France, indicates that Reunion Island is the first French destination in terms of booking volume. It is also the only destination counting a number of arrivals on the upswing, unlike other destinations Overseas (French Antilles, French Polynesia) and metropolitan / mainland France. The island’s tourism marketing office has made the current statistics available and indeed, on closer inspection do all the main date show sharp rises compared to the same time last year:
The same also applies in the other direction, visits by Reunion’s residents visiting France, where again this French Indian Island region is the only one showing growth:
The travel barometer gauges the opinions of France’s travel trade and their confidence vis a vis one destination versus another and is a supreme vote of confidence in Reunion, which of course tirelessly promotes the island’s great many tourism attractions, four volcanic eruptions this year included with the last one now lasting already over 50 days.
Important is also the length of stay and again does Reunion do exceedingly well.
While travelers from the Reunion to mainland France are opting predominantly for medium-term stays between five and twelve nights (45%), those traveling from the French mainland to the island of Reunion mostly spend in average twelve days in the island (63%).This relatively long stay in Reunion is a strong indicator in terms of economic benefits and encourages tourism professionals to target this market with a wide range of offers to provide value for tourists and increase the duration of visits even more.
For added information about Destination Reunion click on www.reunion.fr
