Thailand’s Phuket seeks measures to promote tourism during low season

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)'s Phuket office will continue promoting the province as a year-round destination with no official low season, according to director of the office Lertchai Wangtrakuldee.

During the New Year holiday, Phuket welcomes more than 250,000 visitors. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The strategy follows the success seen in 2023 when the resort province in southern Thailand met its arrival and revenue targets before the year concluded.

By the end of November, the province had attracted more than 10 million tourists and got 330 billion baht (over 9.5 billion USD) from them.

Lertchai said that his office will continue the strategy to make the province free of a 'low season' which usually falls from May to September.

He said the province is targeting tourists from Taiwan (China), Hong Kong (China), Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam during the typical low season while trying to maintain those from Russia and Kazakhstan.

He said Phuket will keep the market diverse without relying on a single country to avoid any repercussions.

His office also plans to send long-stay tourists to nearby provinces like Phangnga and Krabi.

He said community tourism will be promoted among those who arrive on cruise ships, students who come to Phuket for a short language course, as well as Chinese tourists who tend to travel solo or in small groups.

During the New Year holiday, Phuket welcomed more than 250,000 visitors and got over 8 billion baht, he said.

About 70% of the visitors were foreigners arriving on direct flights. The biggest group of tourists, numbering 4,000-5,000 per day, came from Russia, followed by China, India, Australia and the UK.

The occupancy rate averaged 82%, with some hotel operators reporting a three-fold increase in revenue compared with the pre-COVID level in 2019./.

VNA