SOME insiders believe Phuket already has enough resorts and hotels, and one of them is Wichit Na-Ranong, Managing Director of the Indigo Pearl, a pacesetting resort close to the airport at Nai Yang.
While the scramble to build or brand resorts continues on Phuket, mesmerising onlookers, Indigo Pearl is doing it differently - and perhaps starting a trend in a new direction.
Remember, this resort is just four years old, a post-tsunami babe, really. And now it's shrinking.
Yes, the Indigo Pearl will take its 260 rooms and, in a feat of ''hey presto'' first-you-see-them-now-you-don't Phuket magic, turn them into 170 suites.
Just four years old, and the resort will refurbish through the coming low season to reduce the number of units. Huh?
Indigo Pearl did things when it opened that left others in the tourism industry wondering about commonsense and sanity. It's a resort with an industrial feel, all exposed metal coils and springs and raw timber work surfaces that now double as art.
But it worked. Like some rebel in Libya, Managing Director Wichit is now throwing off decades of oppression in other ways, too.
How's this for a hot manifesto: ''There is no point in investing in more resorts on Phuket. We already have plenty.
''If we have too many resorts, too many tourists will come. Phuket will look like a slum.
''Much better to improve the resorts we have. That's why we are making our rooms larger instead of adding more. We are targetting high-end customers.''
The new-look resort will open in November. We can hardly wait.
Khun Wichit also had some advice on looking at the big picture: ''I don't want Phuket to be a slum. In Thailand, there is no clear outline of what the future should be for tourism.
''Zoning for development is not clear. All of us need a clear strategy to pursue, with Phuket and Thailand moving with the times.
''Phuket desperately needs a lot more research and advice. If the government does not have the expertise, then they should seek help from another country where these issues are better understood.''
We seem to remember not long back when managing directors of resorts were often timid and reluctant to offer an opinion on anything vaguely controversial.
Here's hoping a few of them are inspired by Khun Wichit's preparedness to be bold and adventurous, and by Indigo Pearl's 21st-century approach to balance.
While the scramble to build or brand resorts continues on Phuket, mesmerising onlookers, Indigo Pearl is doing it differently - and perhaps starting a trend in a new direction.
Remember, this resort is just four years old, a post-tsunami babe, really. And now it's shrinking.
Yes, the Indigo Pearl will take its 260 rooms and, in a feat of ''hey presto'' first-you-see-them-now-you-don't Phuket magic, turn them into 170 suites.
Just four years old, and the resort will refurbish through the coming low season to reduce the number of units. Huh?
Indigo Pearl did things when it opened that left others in the tourism industry wondering about commonsense and sanity. It's a resort with an industrial feel, all exposed metal coils and springs and raw timber work surfaces that now double as art.
But it worked. Like some rebel in Libya, Managing Director Wichit is now throwing off decades of oppression in other ways, too.
How's this for a hot manifesto: ''There is no point in investing in more resorts on Phuket. We already have plenty.
''If we have too many resorts, too many tourists will come. Phuket will look like a slum.
''Much better to improve the resorts we have. That's why we are making our rooms larger instead of adding more. We are targetting high-end customers.''
The new-look resort will open in November. We can hardly wait.
Khun Wichit also had some advice on looking at the big picture: ''I don't want Phuket to be a slum. In Thailand, there is no clear outline of what the future should be for tourism.
''Zoning for development is not clear. All of us need a clear strategy to pursue, with Phuket and Thailand moving with the times.
''Phuket desperately needs a lot more research and advice. If the government does not have the expertise, then they should seek help from another country where these issues are better understood.''
We seem to remember not long back when managing directors of resorts were often timid and reluctant to offer an opinion on anything vaguely controversial.
Here's hoping a few of them are inspired by Khun Wichit's preparedness to be bold and adventurous, and by Indigo Pearl's 21st-century approach to balance.
A Hotel owner saying there should be no more hotels built.. Wonderful Irony.
Posted by LivinLOS on March 11, 2011 19:05
Editor Comment:
I get what you mean, but it's actually incongruous. Irony is often misunderstood.