Hotels and restaurants in Reunion Island experienced a brief improvement in the health crisis from October 2020 to January 2021, according to INSEE. Over this period, restaurant turnover exceeds that of 2019 by 6%. It is slightly down in November due to the low number of tourists from outside the island., but starts to rise again in December (+8% compared to 2019) and especially in January (+13%). In the hotel industry and car rental, who depend more on external customers, activity is further behind. In October, their turnover recovers slightly with school holidays and the absence of travel restrictions. However, it remains significantly lower than that of October 2019 : -25% for hotels and -19% for car rental companies. In November, with confinement in mainland France and the compelling reasons imposed on arrivals in Reunion, hotel turnover collapses (-46% compared to 2019). The decline is less steep for car rental companies (-22%). In December, the resumption of activity is marked thanks to the lifting of the restriction on travel from mainland France for end-of-year holidays. The turnover, however, remains lower than that of December 2019 in the hotel industry (-18%) and for car rental companies (-14%) because tourist numbers only really resumed in mid-December. On the other hand, it increases much more in January 2021, month during which hotel turnover is much higher than that of January 2020 (+16%) and is close to its usual level for car rental companies (-8%).
