PHUKET: When it comes to numbers and tourism on Phuket, the Tourism Authority of Thailand appears to have a problem.
An article was published in a national newspaper today, saying that the TAT is targetting 14 million arrivals for Phuket for next fiscal year.
This would be an increase from this year's 12 million, the TAT spokesperson is quoted as saying.
These figures are really strange because nobody else with any knowledge of tourism on Phuket quotes figures like these.
The truth is that Phuket can expect to have about six million tourists this year, and approximately half of those will be international visitors.
Someone with knowledge of the numbers really needs to sit down and explain the reality to the TAT.
By allowing false figures to be published, they are - knowingly or unknowingly - conveying the wrong impression about Phuket's tourism success.
Airports of Thailand, which manages Phuket International Airport, probably has a reasonable idea of the numbers of tourists coming to the island.
By our reckoning, at least 90 percent of Phuket's tourists come and go by air. AoT figures show that 9,526,243 passengers passed through Phuket's airport last year. That's arrivals . . . and departures.
So cutting that figures in half gives us 4,763,121, which is approximately the total number of arrivals by air. About half of these arrivals were Thais.
This calendar year, the Phuket airport could set a new record of 11 million passengers, arriving and departing.
There are certainly additional tourists arriving on Phuket by bus and cruise ship, but not in vast numbers.
''The first 11 months of this fiscal year that began in October 2012 recorded more than 10 million tourist arrivals in Phuket,'' records the article in the national newspaper today. ''The full fiscal year that ends this month could record 12 million visitors.''
Oh really? We'd reckon the number of visitors to Phuket will actually be about half that, with less than three million overseas travellers and the rest from Thailand.
The article goes on to quote a TAT spokespoerson as saying: ''We focus on quality tourists rather than quantity. That means our tourists will have the purchasing power to drive tourism income to at least Bt240 billion in fiscal 2014.''
He is talking about the fantasy 14 million tourists that are not actually going to arrive on Phuket in fiscal 2014.
The figure is likely to be less than seven million, with perhaps just over three million from other countries.
Bear in mind that Phuket's biggest rival in the region, Bali, is expecting just over three million international arrivals this calendar year.
How is it possible that Phuket, with an obsolete airport, could even daydream about 14 million arrivals?
The TAT must get its figures right or risk encouraging more resort developers to begin a scramble to open on Phuket for a market that is just a total TAT invention.
It also does the TAT no credit in tourism globally to get its figures so badly wrong.
An article was published in a national newspaper today, saying that the TAT is targetting 14 million arrivals for Phuket for next fiscal year.
This would be an increase from this year's 12 million, the TAT spokesperson is quoted as saying.
These figures are really strange because nobody else with any knowledge of tourism on Phuket quotes figures like these.
The truth is that Phuket can expect to have about six million tourists this year, and approximately half of those will be international visitors.
Someone with knowledge of the numbers really needs to sit down and explain the reality to the TAT.
By allowing false figures to be published, they are - knowingly or unknowingly - conveying the wrong impression about Phuket's tourism success.
Airports of Thailand, which manages Phuket International Airport, probably has a reasonable idea of the numbers of tourists coming to the island.
By our reckoning, at least 90 percent of Phuket's tourists come and go by air. AoT figures show that 9,526,243 passengers passed through Phuket's airport last year. That's arrivals . . . and departures.
So cutting that figures in half gives us 4,763,121, which is approximately the total number of arrivals by air. About half of these arrivals were Thais.
This calendar year, the Phuket airport could set a new record of 11 million passengers, arriving and departing.
There are certainly additional tourists arriving on Phuket by bus and cruise ship, but not in vast numbers.
''The first 11 months of this fiscal year that began in October 2012 recorded more than 10 million tourist arrivals in Phuket,'' records the article in the national newspaper today. ''The full fiscal year that ends this month could record 12 million visitors.''
Oh really? We'd reckon the number of visitors to Phuket will actually be about half that, with less than three million overseas travellers and the rest from Thailand.
The article goes on to quote a TAT spokespoerson as saying: ''We focus on quality tourists rather than quantity. That means our tourists will have the purchasing power to drive tourism income to at least Bt240 billion in fiscal 2014.''
He is talking about the fantasy 14 million tourists that are not actually going to arrive on Phuket in fiscal 2014.
The figure is likely to be less than seven million, with perhaps just over three million from other countries.
Bear in mind that Phuket's biggest rival in the region, Bali, is expecting just over three million international arrivals this calendar year.
How is it possible that Phuket, with an obsolete airport, could even daydream about 14 million arrivals?
The TAT must get its figures right or risk encouraging more resort developers to begin a scramble to open on Phuket for a market that is just a total TAT invention.
It also does the TAT no credit in tourism globally to get its figures so badly wrong.
TAT may include the high quality tourists such as Rohingya refugees....
Posted by Whistle-Blower on September 21, 2013 09:40