Phuket may benefit from regional drive to target European tourists

PHUKET: The Andaman provinces announced last week a plan to launch a joint marketing campaign aimed at luring more Europeans – especially Scandinavians – and persuading them to stay longer.

The Andaman Explorer campaign is the brainchild of the tourism associations in the five provinces along the coast of the Andaman Sea: Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Trang and Ranong.

Ittirit Kinglake, chairman of the Krabi Tourism Association, says that the campaign will update promotional material distributed to travel agents in Europe by adding cultural sites and activities in Trang, and medical tourism locations and hot springs in Ranong.

The move is aimed at helping the agents and tour companies to tailor a greater variety of packages with a wider diversity of products, he said.

It is also hoped that the additional attractions will ease overbooking in Phuket during the peak season. Phuket has been experiencing a boom in tourism this year, with Phuket International Airport almost overrun with overseas arrivals during the low season.

The five tourism associations expect tourism receipts and holiday lengths to double next year.

Chidcha Sakornbadee, vice president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said Thai tour operators would start promoting the campaign to international agents in March for the following high season.

Phuket’s high season has been subject to the vagaries of weather in recent years, but is generally acknowledged as the period from early November to mid-March.