“The riot lasted only a short while and right now the security situation seems to have returned to normal,” Ms Anoma told The Phuket News.
“We have not received any reports of flights or tours being cancelled because of the riot,” she said. “Some passengers were delayed from reaching their flights during the incident, but the airlines and Phuket Airport office understood the situation and helped them to get onto the next available flights.”
Bhuritt Maswongssa, Vice President of the Phuket Tourist Association, yesterday (Oct 15) was reported saying that some tourists – namely Japanese and Singaporean tourists – had cancelled trips to Phuket in the wake of the riot. However, he rated the impact as not as large as the recent haze problem.
Meanwhile, Phuket TAT chief Ms Anoma expects the Phuket Vegetarian Festival to generate a much-welcomed boost to the island’s economy.
“The festival will bring approximately B4-5 billion baht to Thailand,” Ms Anoma told The Phuket News.
More than 200,000 ethnic Chinese tourists are expected to land in Phuket to witness or take part in the festival, this year held from October 13-21.
“We do not expect a lot of tourists from mainland China. Most of them will be from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and of course Thais,” Ms Anoma said.