Bookings boost Phuket occupancy to 80%

“Hotel businesses especially in Phuket have had  very high occupancy rates due to advance bookings since the beginning of the year,” Mr Suksit said.

“During March, more than 70-80% of the bookings have been made in advance due to the high season,” he added.

“April is expected to see the occupancy rate close to 60-70%, as advance bookings for next month are already at 20-30%, which is considered a good result from Phase 5 of the government-sponsored ‘We Travel Together’ project,” Mr Suksit added.

“The ‘We travel Together’ subsidised domestic tourism campaign has helped to stimulate tourism and provided business operators with income, causing the economy to grow exponentially,” Mr Suksit continued.

More than 50 hotels in Phuket are taking part in Phase 5 of the campaign, which began on Tuesday (Mar 7), he noted.

“It is expected to generate a lot of money in Phuket during the project’s rollout,” Mr Suksit said.

“It is expected that tourism businesses during March and April will surely have more than double the revenue than last year,” he added. 

PEOPLE SNAP UP ROOMS

People rushed to book hotels during the first day of the latest phase of the hotel subsidy programme, with 112,876 room nights reserved out of 560,000 available under the scheme within six hours, reported the Bangkok Post.

Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the value of transactions during the first six hours of availability on Tuesday reached B443 million from 112,876 room nights.

Of the total amount, B273mn (60%) was paid by the purchaser and B170mn (40%) came from the government subsidy, he said.

The rate of bookings was faster than predicted, reaching an average of 300 bookings per minute, Mr Yuthasak noted.

The volume of bookings confirmed there is pent-up demand for the next one to two months as well as strong purchasing power, said Mr Yuthasak.

The strong demand was partially because of an easing in Covid-19 infections, which encouraged locals to plan leisure trips or visit their hometown during the Songkran holiday in April.

The 500 hotels added for the fifth phase of the scheme provides travellers with greater choice while the short duration (ending in April) and limited number of privileges, at less than a million, accelerated people’s purchases, he said.

BROADENING PUSH

After returning from a road show trip to Saudi Arabia, Thanet Tantipiriyakit, President of Phuket Tourist Association, earlier this week said expectations were high that a recent flurry of road shows promoting Phuket as a tourist destination to source market countries abroad would boost the island’s tourism industry during the upcoming rainy season.

Key markets where the road shows were held included Saudi Arabia, India and Europe, Mr Thanet said.

The road shows were organised with the support of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO), Mr Thanet pointed out.

“In January we held tourism marketing road shows in Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah, and we expect to see more ‘Premium’ and ‘Extra’ visitors during the ‘green season’ [May-Oct],” Mr Thanet said.

“During the period from July to September is when Saudis travel abroad. This gives Phuket an opportunity to grow its tourism industry during the green season,” he said.

India is also expected to play an increasing role in the ongoing recovery of Phuket’s tourism industry, Mr Thanet said.

Visitors from India to Phuket were second only to Russians, Mr Thanet said.

“And last year there were about 230,000 tourists visiting Phuket. This year, at least 800,000 Indian tourists are expected to visit Phuket. This will definitely generate good revolving income,” he noted.

Other markets expected to deliver promising returns were Belgium, France, Germany and Australia, where the Phuket Tourist Association has held road shows, all supported by the PPAO, Mr Thanet added.

“I am confident that the tourism market among European and Indian tourists will definitely come back to make Phuket and Thailand bustling again,” he said.

Mr Thanet noted that the road shows also provided a good opportunity to present Phuket to potential visitors and key corporate clients, and promote the island and garner support for Phuket’s bid to host Expo 2028, Mr Thanet concluded.

well, this TAT guys looking at his background seems just a rich kid playing with tittles...  usual Thai things that the rich buy their seat and then everything else goes tits up. He is incompetent and this is a fact... 

Prab stands for poor right at beginning! A simple matter of jealousy.

Sounds like Mr.Prab is a bit jealous ! Probably works hard but never achieves anything.

Mr Deevana hotel can get ready to welcome his cheap chinese guests...  what as he done to be there a part from lobbying or pay for his position? born into the cash and never even worked one day in his hotels...