The four southern provinces of Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi and Phang Nga in total saw 1,216 new registrations in the first quarter of this year (Jan-Mar), an increase of 51.62%, said a report shared by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket), so far shared in Thai language only.
The report made no mention of how many companies in the four provinces were deregistered in the past two years.
The new businesses registered included restaurants, hotels, resorts and suites, spas and “other tourism businesses”, the report noted.
“We analyzed business data in the four most popular tourist provinces in the southern region, namely Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi, and Phang Nga, which are provinces supported by government measures,” Mr Sinit said.
Phuket saw the highest number of new business registrations, 613, an increase of 82%, with a total registered capital value of B1.66 billion, an increase of 102%, Mr Sinit noted.
Surat Thani placed second with 450 new companies registered, an increase of 35%, with capital investment of B977.1 million, an increase of 90%, Mr Sinit continued.
Krabi province saw 110 new companies registered, an increase of 17%, with capital investment of B178.21mn, an increase of 64%, followed by Phang Nga, which saw 43 new companies registered, an increase of 16%, with capital investment of B66.81mn, an increase of 14%, he said.
According to the report, Mr Sinit said that March-May every year was a popular period for tourism, which he called a “High Season”, for both Thais and foreigners, “especially in areas with beautiful natural resources such as the South”.
“But due to the spread of COVID-19 in the past two years, the business sector has been severely affected, especially in tourism and other related businesses,” he noted.
“But in 2022, the state relaxed measures and fully promoted the tourism sector, resulting in domestic tourism, which is a service sector business, especially in the southern regions of Thailand, it has started to become bustling again,” said Mr Sinit.
Mr. Sinit added that the Department of Business Development had analyzed other businesses in Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi and Phang Nga that are related to tourism, namely:
- Restaurant and restaurant business.
- Hotel, resort and condominium business
- Spa business
- Business that provides travel reservation services such as car rental services and airfares
“It was found that in the first quarter of 2022, tourism-related businesses in general grew when compared to the same period last year,” Mr Sinit said.
Compared to the same period last year, trade by restaurant businesses grew 83%; hotel, resort and condominium business trade increased by 169%; spa businesses enjoyed a trade increase of 100%; and tour and travel reservation businesses saw a 400% increase in trade.
Of note, Mr Sanit did not give the base figures to indicate what the percentage increases actually represented.
“The above information clearly signals the recovery of the tourism sector and the country, together with supporting factors from various tourism stimulus policies, such as We Travel Together for domestic tourists and improvement of Test & Go measures for foreign tourists,” Mr Sinit said.
“It is a signal that reflects the ability of the Thai business sector to adapt to the epidemic situation of COVID-19. It also shows a response to the guidelines for adjusting the COVID-19 disease to become even better when the situation is declared endemic in the second half of 2022 as well,” he added.
Foot | 07 May 2022 - 11:03:27