Despite being the largest tourism source market to Phuket for years and despite the poll allowing respondents to choose up to three “preferred tourist” options, China scored only 2 per cent of all votes cast.
Tourists from Russia and Eastern Europe fared little better, garnering only 3pc of all votes cast in the poll, which ran for two weeks.
Worst preferred in the poll were tourists from India and the Middle East, which each scored only 1pc of votes cast, despite the Tourism Authority of Thailand targeting those source markets with campaigns and roadshows in recent years.
Even tourists from Asean nations took a hit in the “preference league”, with only 6pc of votes cast in favour of tourists from “Elsewhere in Asia (Malaysia, Korea, Japan, etc)”.
The top choice among respondents were tourists from “Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, etc)”, with 24pc of all votes cast, followed by tourists from Western Europe (19%).
Australia placed third in the preference poll, scoring 17pc of votes, followed by the United Kingdom (14pc) and North America (12pc).
For the full poll results, click here.
To vote in our latest poll, asking “How much positive effect do you think shopping mega-malls have on the island?”, click here.