Phuket, a popular Thai island, is changing its look and status because of a great shift in visitors’ geography. In recent years, the island has become very popular with Asian people and Chinese ones in particular, and so now one in four international visitors comes from that country.
C9 Hotelworks has published the results of its report concerning tourism in Phuket. According to the document, during first six months of 2013 the island was visited by almost half a million of Chinese travellers. Compare this digit to the result of 2007 less than 40,000 and you will feel the difference. Improved airplane connection is one of main reasons for such a growth. If five years ago the island was connected with the Mainland by only five planes, in 2013 there are as many as 22 regular flights. The total number of international arrivals to Phuket during first six months of 2013 estimated 12.7 million visitors. The share of Chinese visitors is the biggest 18%. Surprisingly, visitors from Western Europe are not even present in Top 5 despite recent popularity of the island. Western Europeans are replaced by visitors from Asia and Russia.
C9 forecasts that in 2013 the total number of visitors from China and Russia will be 44% of the total volume. Of course, hotels in Phuket also post strong results. The average occupancy on the island is 76% and this figure is the highest since 2008.