Kristsada Tansakul, president of the Thai Hotels Association (Southern Chapter), said Chinese travellers were still visiting Phuket and the occupancy rate in August remained at 85-90 per cent. The association expected the overall occupancy rate in the third quarter would stay around 70pc.
The Chinese market was still growing and the association hoped to attract two million Chinese visitors to the island in 2015.
Sathirapong Na Takuatoong, president of Phuket Tourism Business Association, said Phuket received 12.5 million visitors in 2014 and this year Phuket International Airport had experienced a daily average rise in visitors of 30pc.
There were about 95,000 rooms in Phuket. Chinese nationals were the largest group of tourists, followed by Australians and Russians.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) today (August 25) reported that 5pc of foreign bookings for travel to Thailand had been cancelled since the August 17 explosion, but an average of 20,000 tourists were arriving every day.
ATTA president Charoen Wangananont said the period of cancellations was expected to be short-lived, and be limited to the first couple of weeks after the Erawan attack.
During Chinaʼs National Day celebrations, Chinese have a long 10-day holiday, from October 1 to October 10. During this period, 200,000-350,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit Thailand, up 10-20pc from the same period last year, Mr Charoen said.
Juthaporn Rerngronasa, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the TAT board would meet on August 28 to prepare short-, middle- and long-term measures to stimulate touirism. Emphasis would be given to restoring touristsʼ confidence.
She said the tourism revenue target for this year remained unchanged.
A total of 30 countries had issued travel advisories following the Erawan shrine bombing. Most issued “level 2” advisories, telling citizens to take extra care during travel in the kingdom. None had warned citizens to avoid travel to Thailand, she said.
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