PHUKET: Same same but different. That was the tale of 2014 air traffic through Phuket International Airport, with 11.4 million passenger trips recorded.
That total was just 0.52 percent up on the previous year's tally. Given that other parts of Thailand shook off tourists in vast numbers, keeping Phuket's arrival and departure numbers steady was quite a feat.
The mix probably changed, with Russians not coming and Chinese vanishing, then reappearing again.
December's figures indicated that tourism is back, with international passenger numbers up 4.73 percent and domestic arrivals and departures rising by 11.48 percent. The total of 1,114,170 was reasonably impressive.
It was a topsy turvy year for the little island that could. After 60 months of consistent year-on-year growth, Phuket suffered setbacks with minuses appearing before the figure for June, July, August and September.
Back in the black from October, the ascent appears to be underway once more.
Sunbeds or no sunbeds on beaches at Patong, Kata, Karon and Kamala, the tourists are still coming.
The figures indicate that more international travellers are arriving, which only confirms that Phuket continues to be increasingly well-known and still popular with travellers from around the world.
What we need to remind condo developers and the banks that support them is that the figure of 11.4 million is for arrivals AND departures through Phuket International Airport. Airports of Thailand records both.
So to get a sense of how many tourists are visiting Phuket, cut that figure in half . . . and you have 5.7 million.
Discount expats making repeat journeys, families visiting relatives and the other reasons people get on planes and the figure probably falls to under five million.
It's worth bearing in mind that Bali, the most obvious rival to Phuket in the region, hopes to attract four million overseas visitors this year.
That total was just 0.52 percent up on the previous year's tally. Given that other parts of Thailand shook off tourists in vast numbers, keeping Phuket's arrival and departure numbers steady was quite a feat.
The mix probably changed, with Russians not coming and Chinese vanishing, then reappearing again.
December's figures indicated that tourism is back, with international passenger numbers up 4.73 percent and domestic arrivals and departures rising by 11.48 percent. The total of 1,114,170 was reasonably impressive.
It was a topsy turvy year for the little island that could. After 60 months of consistent year-on-year growth, Phuket suffered setbacks with minuses appearing before the figure for June, July, August and September.
Back in the black from October, the ascent appears to be underway once more.
Sunbeds or no sunbeds on beaches at Patong, Kata, Karon and Kamala, the tourists are still coming.
The figures indicate that more international travellers are arriving, which only confirms that Phuket continues to be increasingly well-known and still popular with travellers from around the world.
What we need to remind condo developers and the banks that support them is that the figure of 11.4 million is for arrivals AND departures through Phuket International Airport. Airports of Thailand records both.
So to get a sense of how many tourists are visiting Phuket, cut that figure in half . . . and you have 5.7 million.
Discount expats making repeat journeys, families visiting relatives and the other reasons people get on planes and the figure probably falls to under five million.
It's worth bearing in mind that Bali, the most obvious rival to Phuket in the region, hopes to attract four million overseas visitors this year.
No one really trusts these figures.
The figures we need to see is ACTUAL international arrivals in all of Thailand. The internal flights should show if it was a Thai National who flew on the plane or Mr and Mrs Smith who landed in Bangkok and then decided to come down here.
Then how many Thai's decided to visit Phuket.
Then the true figures will reveal themselves.
Posted by Tbs on January 8, 2015 12:29
Editor Comment:
There is no problem with the airport figures. Further breakdowns are more difficult to achieve.