PHUKET has reported world's largest occupancy decrease for February (-30.2 percent to 61.4 percent) in a survey by STR Global, a branch of Smith Travel Research.

Three markets also decreased more than 50 percent in revenue parity ratings in US dollars: Phuket (-53.8 percent to US$73.12); New Dehli (-53.3 percent to US$162.89); and Mumbai (-51.9 percent to US$126.79).

The figures came as the International Air Transport Association revealed that for January, the number of business or first class travellers worldwide fell 16.7 per cent, coming after a 13.3-per cent drop in December.

All seat categories combined fell 5.9 per cent in January, according to IATA, which records 93 percent of air traffic.

Comparisons with early 2008 for the island are inevitably bad because back then, Phuket was riding near-record tourism traffic and already looking set for its best year ever in 2008.

There is one positive: because of the low numbers, the island is now being touted in Europe as the best-value long-haul destination.

According to data compiled by STR Global, hotels in the Asia-Pacific region reported double-digit decreases for all three key performance measures for February 2009.

US-based Smith Travel Research and London-based STR Global offer benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly five million rooms worldwide.

Overall, the Asia-Pacific region's occupancy dropped 12.1 percent to 59.0 percent; average daily rate declined 21.0 percent to US$114.82; and revenue per available room fell 30.5 percent to US$67.70.

''The whole region has been hit hard by the global banking crisis and until December was in a period of sustained growth,'' James Chappell, managing director of STR Global, was quoted as saying.

''China now faces a sharp decline in demand to add to the oversupply, and Japan has been struggling with a surge in the value of the yen''.

In South-East Asia, Indonesia fared surprisingly well in the survey, with Bali increasing its dollar rating (+2.6 percent to US$99.31) and Jakarta reporting the smallest decrease in occupancy (-3.0 percent to 64.8 percent).

In South Korea, Seoul reported the largest occupancy increase in year-over-year measurements for February 2009, jumping 22.1 percent to 84.8 percent.

Along with Bali, Tokyo (+5.4 percent to US$208.27) and Osaka (+1.5 percent to US$107.45) picked up on revenue ratings.

The downturn continues to reflect in all aspects of business.

Sales of private jets, for example, are expected to fall dramatically this year. ''We don't see any orders coming in,'' said the CEO at one French manufacturer.