and Sainte-Suzanne, which began initiatives to attract both internal and external tourists. The French government also intervened to support overseas tourism, by launching a campaign in 2003 called France of the three oceans, and the Insee saw a growth in tourism to Réunion despite international tensions affecting air traffic in general. A new airline opened, Air Bourbon, funded partly by Réunion capital, and made its first flights between the island and the mainland after a rough start. Consideration was also given to the impact of tourism, particularly internal tourism. This was also growing quickly, with the construction of new recreational areas, hiking trails and picnic areas. This was damaging natural sites in an unanticipated way. But globally, the mood was optimistic and the island published a text Schéma de développement touristique de La Réunion in 2004. That year, they received 430,000 external tourists and generated 6,000 jobs in the sector, providing 6.5% of the total salary for all workers. Also in 2004, the CTR launched an initiative to intensively promote gay tourism by featuring the island at the Salon rainbow Attitude, the European gay expo. CTR opened a website as part of their effort to increase online tourist marketing. In January 2005 the responsibility for tourism was transferred to the region itself. In March of that year, the council proposed the ambitious goal of exceeding a million tourists in 2020. They proposed a series of measures, notably adapting the accommodation for disabled people, and to ride the new wave of well-off tourists, particularly senior citizens. In October 2005, Réunion was the sixth most popular overseas department for tourists. They formed a partnership with the sister island of Mauritius to promote the Mascarene Islands as a tourist destination. The clientele are distinguished from tourists to other places by the high number of affinity tourists. An affinity tourist is someone who goes on holiday to stay with friends or family who already live in the destination. 2005–2006: The crisis The first indication of the crisis appeared in 2005 when the numbers started to show a decline in the tourist sector. According to Insee figures, the decline got stronger and stronger. The crisis was global and affected the other French overseas departments too, but Réunion attributed it to a marketing failure. A series of mishaps contributed to a damaged image of Réunion as a destination. At the end of 2004, Air Bourbon went