Reunited with Reunion Island

Reunion Island Tourism Board re-appointed Representation World as its official India representative fourth time in a row, with Vineet Gopal as Director—India for the destination.

TT Bureau

Ecstatic on having Reunion Island again onboard, Vineet Gopal said that he was extremely happy to be re-associated with the destination, especially after having recorded phenomenal growth from India last year. “The Indian arrivals to Reunion Island witnessed a growth of 175 per cent and we are hopeful to sustain this growth for this year as well,” he said.

“We are focusing on small exhibitions, so that we are present in every city. Tier-II and III will be in focus apart from our metros, which are major markets for Indian arrivals to Reunion Island”

Rasika Mathur, Senior Sales Manager – India, Marketing & Promotion, Reunion Island Tourism Board, added, “We are focusing on increasing the traffic further. We recorded around 4000 arrivals from India to Reunion Island. We wish to do better than 175 per cent growth, for which we will be focusing more on Tier-II cities, participate in exhibitions and work closely with tour operators and B2B partners. We will also be tapping the B2C segment with many new initiatives.”

Claiming that the major reason behind this growth was the support from trade, Gopal claimed, “All our partners and tour operators have helped us in promoting the destination and it is because of our team that we are able to achieve these numbers.”

Going forward, the strategy, according to Gopal, is to focus on exhibitions. “We are focusing on small exhibitions, so that we are present in every city. Tier-II and III will be in focus apart from our metros, which are major markets for Indian arrivals to Reunion Island. We are moving towards having consumer campaigns as well. We are planning many Fam trips for trade to Reunion Island so that they can explore this beautiful paradise,” shared Gopal.

Mathur added, “We would also be coming up with various incentive schemes for our travel partners selling Reunion Island, like the one we had last year.” She also said that one of the agendas for them would be to work with their airline partner Air Astral. It is the only airline offering direct connection between India and Reunion Island from Chennai. However, there is a need for more connections.

Gopal agrees, saying, “We are in the process of sending Air Astral the request to start operating from other cities as well, but that will take time. However, we are well connected with Air Mauritius from both Delhi and Mumbai as well as other stations. The connecting flight from Mauritius to Reunion Island is 35-40 minutes, offering hassle-free travel for visitors to the island.”

Commenting on how Indians are clubbing Reunion Island with a trip to Mauritius, Gopal said, “People are clubbing the two destinations because they are only 35-40 minutes apart by air. But we have people who are only going to Reunion Island itself. The destination has a lot to offer and I think one is not doing justice if they are staying less than six days on this island. It is very different from any beach destination as there are around 500 micro climates on the island, and one would experience a different climate on travelling every one hour. Apart from some beautiful beaches, there are mountains, which even includes the highest peak in the Indian Ocean. Our USP is the volcano, which is the most active and the safest in the world. In fact, one can do a hiking tour to see the volcano or even go there by helicopter. One can never be stuck
on just the island and the beach, but can indulge in a plethora of activities, good restaurant options as well as music festivals.”

Air Connections

• Air Astral is the only airline offering direct connection between India and Reunion Island from Chennai