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Phuket Will Bounce Back
26th Oct 2010
The abrupt suspension by two Chinese carriers, one a Star Alliance partner with Thai Airways International, to suspend flights to Phuket because of political unrest dealt a severe, but certainly not, devastating, blow to the island.
With the Chinese market still open to huge opportunity for Phuket based hotel operators, having planeloads of Chinese from Shanghai, the 'New York' of the East, the suspension of services by Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines cancellation could only be for six months - in other words they could be back for the high season.
Shanghai Airlines had earlier planned to initially offer three flights a week to Phuket on a charter basis starting from April 30 before upgrading the services to regular scheduled flights.
Shanghai used to operate flights to Phuket but terminated them soon after the airport shutdown, though it has continued to operate flights through Bangkok only. China Eastern had agreed to start three flights a week on the same route on a non-scheduled basis on May 13.
The two Chinese carriers were the first foreign airlines known to have changed their plans in response to the latest political upheaval.
This action just underscores the urgent need for Phuket hoteliers and travel industry operators to pull together more to market the island in the off season.
This was the reasoning behind a recent meeting called by some energetic Phuket hotel operators to try and debunk the 'myth' that Phuket cannot be visited in the 'low' season because of rain, high seas etc.
The 'Phuket Summer Season Sun and Fun' campaign covering April to November is designed to raise awareness amongst travel agents and operators offshore, particularly in Europe, that Phuket is both safe to visit and also to spend an enjoyable holiday in, even if there is a little bit of rain. The website to visit is: www.summerinphuket.com
The fact is that Phuket also has a lot of rain free days during the summer season when doing things like sightseeing, playing golf, shopping and, well, drinking, are all activities that can be undertaken without too much bother.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects Chinese visitors, which have plunged in number by 80% due to the latest political turmoil, to return over the next three months. Last year, 800,000 people from China visited Thailand.
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