You’re scrolling through Instagram, only half paying attention to your friends’ updates, when a photo of a beautiful, pristine beach grabs your eye. Somebody you know is lounging on that very beach – and suddenly you want to be there, too. You check the location tag: Réunion Island.
Réunion is a French department in the south-west Indian Ocean, situated between Madagascar and Mauritius. It ticks many of the boxes associated with a dream island holiday: beautiful green mountainscapes, waterfalls and sunny skies (and, of course, beautiful beaches). Its tourism marketing plays heavily on its year-round favourable weather and outdoor activities. Réunion welcomed 556,089 tourists during 2023; 80% were from France. In 2023 international tourism increased by 14.7% from the previous year, setting a new revenue record of €477.9 million.
