Phuketwan Economic Report
FIGURES for international arrivals at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport in January show a drop of almost 20 percent compared to the same month last year.
International air traffic to and from Phuket was down in January by about 10 percent, Phuketwan has previously reported.
As for future strategies, the concept of short-haul visitors propping up sliding long-haul figures was blown out of the air above Bangkok, with East Asian visitors to the capital plunging by 31.05 percent.
One of the most dramatic reversals is the Russian market, down by 33.53 percent - the opposite of the trend for 2008, which showed an increase of 15.89 percent.
As the worldwide economic downturn strikes country by country, target markets that seem to be doing well are vanishing almost overnight.
The main damage: Korea, down in January by 53.07, down 27.87 percent in 2008; China down 35.61 percent so far this year, down 10.65 percent in 2008; Japan down 31.98 percent in January, down 10.24 percent in 2008; Singapore down 26.75 percent this year, 3.74 percent in 2008.
There are virtually no promising signs. Spain, one of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's recent targets, is down by 33.53 percent this year and 8.28 percent in 2008.
While many Australians fly direct to Phuket, numbers coming through Bangkok slumped 17.37 percent in January after rising almost negligibly by 1.75 percent in 2008.
Marketing experts at Phuket resorts must be wondering where to find reliable up-to-date data: the latest TAT figures on the nationalities of travelers to Phuket cease at June, 2008.
Why is information on Phuket so far more than seven months behind the national figures, and still out there somewhere? Phuketwan is hoping for an explanation from the new data providers, the Office of Tourism Development.
As for the national capital, the total of 9,854,672 international visitors in 2008 was down by 4.97 percent on 2007. Most people would say that was due to the late-year airports blockade.
As a guide to 2009, January is not promising. European visitors to Suvarnabhumi slumped by 12.22 percent to 335,280; Americas visitors dipped by 13.52 percent to 72,884, the Pacific region slid 18.65 percent to 42,923.
The crunch came in East Asia, the short-haul region where support had been expected to remain strong, with a huge drop of 31.05 percent to 299,114 visitors.
Even Vietnam, up 47.44 percent in 2008, nosedived by 15.77 percent in January.
There was no ray of hope, unless you count the 99.46 percent increase to a minuscule 8495 visitors from the United Arab Emirates.
Visitors from the Middle East are up by 5.74 percent, but don't hold your breath. The New York Times recently reported that foreign workers are deserting Dubai in droves as the economy there swings downwards.
The only other pluses in a sea of minuses are alongside Bangladesh and Nepal, destinations not noted for their five-star spending power.
Yet once the fear factor of another potential airport blockade wears off, Thailand in general and Phuket even moreso probably do have positive appeal . . . but long-term.
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