Guest wowpow Posted August 20, 2007 Posted August 20, 2007 "TOURISM STATISTICS First-half growth modest but tourist visits to Phuket grow - Bangkok Post - CHATRUDEE THEPARAT Thailand's tourism industry reported slight growth in the first half of this year with the number of foreign tourist arrivals up 3.3% year-on-year to 6.95 million. Suvarnabhumi Airport alone handled 4.91 million foreign tourists, compared with 4.78 million in the first six months last year. Phuket International Airport recorded heavy growth of 15% to around 625,000 arrivals, according to Juthaporn Rerngronasa, a deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. But the unrest in the South has had a significant impact on the region as the number of overland foreign visitors, mostly Malaysians and Singaporeans, crossing the Sadao border checkpoint in Songkhla dropped 22.5% to 352,000, from 454,800 last year, she noted. According to Mrs Juthaporn, the TAT plans campaigns to encourage Malaysian and Singaporean tourists to fly to Phuket instead of taking land transport when visiting the the southern provinces. The agency will also spend 120 million baht in the second half of this year to increase the number of arrivals from promising markets including Scandinavia, the Middle East, the UK, Australia, Japan and South Korea. The TAT will stage more promotional roadshows abroad including one to China from Aug 26 to 31. China is one of Thailand's fastest growing source markets, with a record 1.03 million arrivals last year. In the first half of this year, however, Chinese visitor arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport declined 20.4% to 364,642, reflecting security concerns among other issues, although spending was healthy at 28.85 billion baht. TAT governor Phornsiri Manoharn held talks last week with Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, the chairman of the Thai-China Tour Operators Association, to map packages for Chinese visitors." Quote
Guest pete1969 Posted August 20, 2007 Posted August 20, 2007 It is nice to see that Phuket has overcome the tourism downturn after the tsunami. I must say that Patong Beach did a masterful job in rebuilding a better beachfront and upgrading Beach Rd. I haven't been to Patong since the opening of the new mall, but I am sure that has only added to the appeal. Pete Quote
