Thailand Tourism Update
Thursday, September 25th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
My wife and I have just returned from a week’s holiday in Phuket, Thailand’s most popular island tourist destination.
It was certainly “business-as-usual” for Phuket, with no sign of any protestors or unrest of any kind. Everthing was operating as normal, but there was one big difference - the number of tourists in Phuket in September was down about 30% on the same time last year, following travel cancellations and a drop-off in forward bookings. All of the seminar group bookings from overseas for September were cancelled.
The unrest in Phuket was brief - a group protesters blocked access to Phuket’s airport for 3 days in late August, disrupting the travel plans of thousands. The protest was peaceful, but the widespread international media coverage caused considerable damage to Phuket’s image, and security-conscious travellers were quick to cancel their bookings.
The unfortunate outcome - as is often the case in these situations - is that it is the poorer locals who suffer. The drop in tourist arrivals affects the hotel house-maids, bar and restaurant staff and many other occupations at the lower end of the pay scale. On the bright side, the Thai people seemed extra-grateful for those of us who went ahead with our visit.
It will take time to rebuild the confidence of travellers in Phuket, especially until foreign countries lower their travel warnings for Thailand. But for us, we had a very enjoyable week (our first visit to Thailand). The weather was hot and steamy, the shopping was great (apart from the excess baggage charges on the way home!), and the tourist attractions were uncrowded. We will definitely go back!
travelbug
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