Tourism “boom’ tipped soon

PHUKET TOWN: The outlook for tourism in Phuket is much brighter now, Santhichai Auengjongprasit, Deputy-Governor for Marketing of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said today. Numbers were still down on last year’s low season, he conceded, but were improving. The effects of the Sars scare were no longer being felt and discounts and travel promotions were already working, he added. K. Santhichai was speaking while making a visit to the 4th Phuket Hotelex & Decor Exhibition 2004 at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket Town today. The TAT has a “Smile Plus” hotel discount deal running and Thai Airways is now giving away 20,000 free air tickets to international and domestic passengers that they will be able to use between October 1 and December 31. These campaigns would help to boost tourism to “booming” levels in Phuket within two or three months, he said. He added that the investigation of land titles on the island was unlikely to affect tourism or investors looking to do business here.