PHUKET: National travel alerts and the Bangkok area foods gouged a hole in Phuket three-star resort occupancy rates last month, highlighting once again the economic cost of the absurd international ''warnings'' system, latest figures revealed today.
Chinese New Year - the Year of the Dragon begins on January 23 - is expected to reverse the alarming dip, according to Phuket travel and tourism forecasters.
Three-star resort occupancy on Phuket plummeted by 13.15 percent in November compared to the same period in 2010 as mainland Chinese and Hongkongers cancelled bookings.
''Getting your feet wet in Phuket was a totally different thing to getting your feet wet in Bangkok,'' one resort manager said. ''Yet Phuket suffered a needless loss of business.''
The overall trend continued upwards regardless, with total occupancy for all Phuket resorts at 71.98 percent in November compared to 64.06 last year, a healthy increase of 7.92 percent, according to statistics from the Thai Hotels Association..
Apart from the big hit to three-stars, Phuket once again appeared to be insulated from the excesses of the travel alerts.
Earlier this week, the Bangkok-based Association of Thai Travel Agents reported that Taiwanese visitor numbers dropped by nearly 100 percent, while Hong Kong was 90 percent down.
Arrivals from South Korea and Japan had fallen more than 80 percent, while those from China had declined by about 80 percent, the ATTA said.
Far more promising was the picture from Phuket, where THA five-star figures nudged northwards by 1.89 percent and four-star resorts spurted up by 8.72 percent to 75.24 percent.
The THA forcecast for December and on into the high season is encouraging, too, for five-stars and three-stars. Five-stars report 80 percent bookings for December with three-stars at 70 percent and recovering as the Asian customers return.
Four-stars are a little less positive as Australians and Russians head for home.
Chinese New Year - the Year of the Dragon begins on January 23 - is expected to reverse the alarming dip, according to Phuket travel and tourism forecasters.
Three-star resort occupancy on Phuket plummeted by 13.15 percent in November compared to the same period in 2010 as mainland Chinese and Hongkongers cancelled bookings.
''Getting your feet wet in Phuket was a totally different thing to getting your feet wet in Bangkok,'' one resort manager said. ''Yet Phuket suffered a needless loss of business.''
The overall trend continued upwards regardless, with total occupancy for all Phuket resorts at 71.98 percent in November compared to 64.06 last year, a healthy increase of 7.92 percent, according to statistics from the Thai Hotels Association..
Apart from the big hit to three-stars, Phuket once again appeared to be insulated from the excesses of the travel alerts.
Earlier this week, the Bangkok-based Association of Thai Travel Agents reported that Taiwanese visitor numbers dropped by nearly 100 percent, while Hong Kong was 90 percent down.
Arrivals from South Korea and Japan had fallen more than 80 percent, while those from China had declined by about 80 percent, the ATTA said.
Far more promising was the picture from Phuket, where THA five-star figures nudged northwards by 1.89 percent and four-star resorts spurted up by 8.72 percent to 75.24 percent.
The THA forcecast for December and on into the high season is encouraging, too, for five-stars and three-stars. Five-stars report 80 percent bookings for December with three-stars at 70 percent and recovering as the Asian customers return.
Four-stars are a little less positive as Australians and Russians head for home.
