PHUKET: A bright high season is being predicted for Phuket and Thailand by Airports of Thailand, the organisation that manages the island's airport and Thailand's other major airports.
At Phuket airport, the number of flights is expected to grow from 200 to 233, which will lift passenger number from 29,900 to 36,100, according to AoT.
And most of that increase will be in international passengers.
The upbeat assessment comes in contrast to concerns that the murders of two British tourists on Koh Tao may have scared people away or that visitors will no longer enjoy Phuket without the thousands of sunbeds and umbrellas that littered the sands last season.
Four drownings in the Andaman region this month - two Indian tourists off the coast of Krabi province then two Koreans returning from Phi Phi to Phuket - have also added to safety alarms.
The new, positive forecast contrasts with a gloomy year for Thai tourism, marked early on by street protests, then the military takeover in May.
The birth of the ''New Phuket'' from November 1 may allay the fears of many, if the AoT outlook proves correct.
So far a survey of resorts forward bookings by Phuketwan and comments by the Phuket Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Anoma Vongyai, have pointed towards a ''quite strong'' high season.
At Phuket airport, the number of flights is expected to grow from 200 to 233, which will lift passenger number from 29,900 to 36,100, according to AoT.
And most of that increase will be in international passengers.
The upbeat assessment comes in contrast to concerns that the murders of two British tourists on Koh Tao may have scared people away or that visitors will no longer enjoy Phuket without the thousands of sunbeds and umbrellas that littered the sands last season.
Four drownings in the Andaman region this month - two Indian tourists off the coast of Krabi province then two Koreans returning from Phi Phi to Phuket - have also added to safety alarms.
The new, positive forecast contrasts with a gloomy year for Thai tourism, marked early on by street protests, then the military takeover in May.
The birth of the ''New Phuket'' from November 1 may allay the fears of many, if the AoT outlook proves correct.
So far a survey of resorts forward bookings by Phuketwan and comments by the Phuket Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Anoma Vongyai, have pointed towards a ''quite strong'' high season.
Bringing penniless tourists into Thailand with cheap package tours is a big boondoggle for the tourism Thai industry.
Only foreign companies which organize package-tours will make huge profit by squeezing hotels and tour providers for the cheapest of the cheapest prices and local Thai businesses will be starving as usual.
Posted by Whistle-Blower on October 23, 2014 15:56