Billion baht sports & conference complex to be built at Mai Khao Beach
Phuket’s Governor led a team to visit 150 rai of land on Mai Khao Beach today (November 8) to review the plans to build a sports complex with a 900 – 1,000 million Baht budget from the budget year 2019.
The sports complex is expected to attract more sports tourism to the island featuring a sports centre, exhibition hall and conference centre using initial studies and designs that have been prepared several years ago.
The Governor has ordered departments involved to put fences around the plot to avoid encroachment while also asked the local authorities to take care of the cleanliness of the area as there were many people dumping trash on the land.
Phuket Provincial Office and Phuket Provincial Office of Tourism and Sports will be quickly filing for the budget so that progress can begin on schedule.
“As Phuket is a tourism destination, we have to look for alternative attractions apart from nature such as health, conferences (MICE market), and especially sports which Phuket has excelled at with even greater potential. We can see big sports events every year with sport fields, a rehabilitation centre and accommodation. This will effectively attract athletes to train and join the sport competitions on the island,” said the Governor.
International MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions) industry and local conference and event organisers have been calling for a major conference venue on Phuket for decades.
Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com says “Phuket has a strong legacy of sports tourism from triathlons, the marquee marathon event onto Muay Thai, yoga and action events sports which are important to the island’s economy. It’s good to see the government recognising this sector and getting involved in a significant way”.
