Phuket tourism rebounds from 2010 political strife

PHUKET: Inbound passenger traffic at Phuket Airport during 2010 smashed all previous records with 3.5 million arrivals.

The figure is a 22% increase on the previous year with new markets such as Russia and China emerging as the major drivers of growth, says leading Phuket-based consultancy C9 Hotelworks.

In its latest market research report, the 2010 Phuket Hotel Market Update, C9 Hotelworks reports that annual tourism figures for 2010 recovered solidly from early political angst to hit new highs.

C9 Hotelworks Managing Director Bill Barnett says that both Russia and China have emerged as star performers, with charter and direct flight capacity fast tracking growth.

Yet, the departure of legacy geographic markets led to shrinking average room rates, Mr Barnett said.

While new replacement players have become dynamic revenue sources, the shift in arrival markets continues to baffle hotel strategy sessions on how to capture these new revenue flows.

Data from the report highlights market capitulations and reactionary pricing resulting in a market-wide occupancy increase of 4%, largely offset by a 3% fall in room rates.

During 2010, 1,389 new rooms opened on Phuket, reflecting an increase of 3.2%.

The latest official tally by the Tourism Authority of Thailand puts the number of rooms at 43,036.

A full copy of the C9 report will appear as in insert in the Phuket Gazette due out Friday afternoon.