Phuket Airport passenger arrivals dip
by Bill Barnett, c9Hotelworks.com
To date, 2019 is shaping up to be a slightly volatile year for tourism to the island.
Passenger arrivals at Phuket International Airport rose 1% year-on-year in January, but took a step backwards in February with a substantial 6% decline.
While we are still early in the year, overall visitor arrivals to Thailand on a country-wide basis have lost ground compared to the same period in 2018, so in reality Phuket’s challenges match those of the entire country.
Registering the sharpest slowdown has been the Mainland Chinese segment.
Thailand’s government has extended a visa free incentive and is also implementing measures to stimulate domestic tourism which may include more tax breaks for local travel.
One notable change that may stimulate some travel demand has been the recent weakening of the Thai baht against a number of currencies.
