The average occupancy rate before the five-day holiday, from last Wednesday through tomorrow (July 13-17), was about 44.46%, Ms Nanthasiri said yesterday (July 15).
“This is expected to increase to as high as 60% because most Thai tourists prefer to book at the last minute, with most staying on average of 2.49 nights,” she added.
In total approximately 196,870 tourists are expected to visit Phuket during the holidays, she added.
“They are expected to generate an estimated B2.34294bn,” she said.
Bookings indicated that the peak occupancy period would be from Wednesday through yesterday (July 13-15), Ms Nanthasiri said.
“Some hotels have bookings as high as 60-80%, especially in leading tourist areas such as Patong Beach, Kamala Beach, Surin Beach, Kata Beach, Karon Beach, and others,” she added.
Projecting from figures provided by Phuket airport, at least 28,189 foreign travelers will be arriving on 160 flights during the holidays, Ms Nanthasiri said.
“The number of domestic travelers is estimated at 32,656 people arriving on 277 flights, giving a load factor of about 60-100%,” she added.
The arrivals will be providing a much-welcomed boost to the island’s economy, despite high inflation, spurred on by rising fuel costs, in Thailand, she said.
However, Ms Nanthasiri said that price rises were stabilising and more tourists were coming to Phuket ‒ factors she attributed to successful national government policies.
“As a result, the trend has been a growth in the number of tourists from India and Middle East countries during this period,” she said.
Ms Nanthasiri recognised the current labour shortage ready to serve the tourism industry.
“Overall, Phuket tourism is recovering. As a result, the demand for tourism workers has increased accordingly, causing the current problem of a labour shortage in many positions,” she said.
“It is expected that this problem will become more severe during the tourism high season at the end of the year,” Ms Nanthsairi noted.
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