The Phuket Tourism Association has forecast that hotels in the province would see occupancy rates as low as 25-30 per cent, compared to 60 per cent in the low season last year, citing a number of negative factors.
Phurit Maswongsa, the association's vice president for marketing, said the spread of the type-A(H1N1)flu virus was one of the main problems hitting the industry.
"Phuket is already in the low [holiday] season, but occupancy rates will fall by about 30 per cent to remain at between 30-35 per cent," Phurit said.
He added revenues for operators in Phuket would be down 50 per cent compared to last year.
Only tourists from Australia, the Middle East and India are likely to be visiting the island.
He said promotional offers were not enough to tempt tourists back to Thailand as they were trying to avoid the possibility of catching the flu and were also concerned about political instability.
Moreover, occupancy rates in the high season are expected to be down 20 per cent, to between 50-60 per cent.
Laguna Resorts and Hotels forecasts the average occupancy rate at its Laguna Phuket property would be down 20-25 per cent in the second and third quarters of this year.
The average occupancy rate at the region's largest resort complex fell 27 per cent in the first quarter, to 65 per cent because people cancelled bookings to Phuket following the closure of Bangkok airport in November.
Thailand's political instability and the global economic crisis are key factors for the downturn and this has been exacerbated by the spread of the flu virus.
Debbie Dionysius, Laguna's assistant vice president for destination marketing, said it had offered 100,000 free rooms earlier this year so occupancy rates were pretty high in January to March. However, revenue was down.
Dionysius expected to see an improvement by the fourth quarter year as tourists should hopefully be returning to Thailand.
"We have seen some positive signs such as the economy picking up," she said.
Dusit Thani Laguna recorded the best performance in terms of revenue in 2007-2008 while Banyan Tree has recorded the highest occupancy rate over the last two years.
The hotel operator is trying to attract more tourists to the island by adding more activities and implementing new marketing strategies.
An upcoming event is the fourth Laguna Phuket International Marathon, which is scheduled for June 14. The event is expected to draw 4,000 runners from overseas and Thais. The event is also hoped to generate revenues of around Bt30 million for the province.
According to Dionysius, Laguna Phuket is working with international schools in Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore to organise activities and camping trips. The scheme will run from June to September.
Moreover, the group will try to attract more customers from China where it has Banyan Tree offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Laguna expects visitors from China to increase from 5 per cent this year to 15-20 per cent over the next few years.
Source: The Nation 21 May 2009
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