Phuket Fast Becoming An Urbanised Vacation Hub On Back Of Island’s Sustained Tourism Boom – Report
There is no argument that Phuket is an iconic holiday destination, and mainly on the account of the island’s gorgeous collection of beaches. Nowadays though, the massively popular Thai tourist attraction continues to draw in millions of visitors, many flying in from abroad, and the vacation plan appears to go beyond the waters and the sands.
In recent years, “Phuket is gradually transforming to a more urbanised holiday destination rather than a pure beach getaway,” a new report said, indicating too that within the island there is an emerging and welcome trend ready to flex its muscle.
“Resort-oriented retail is a rising force,” hospitality consulting firm C9 Hotelworks said on its latest Phuket Report, adding the area now boasts of high-volume properties expressly designed for the emerging business model, and evidently an offshoot of Phuket’s seemingly unstoppable tourism explosion.
As of April 2018, Phuket has a sprawling 200,000 square meters of collective properties ready and exclusively allocated for resort-oriented retail activities, and which the same report described as “Grade A net lettable area.”
Forces That Triggered The Explosion
To be clear, Phuket’s business landscape is undergoing positive reconfiguration and the credit goes to the solid infrastructure support provided by the national government. The province saw its international airport get a major upgrade recently and there will be expansion of similar facilities as part of Thailand’s “great push forward on mega-transportation projects.”
The move, now underway, is clearly paying off for the country’s tourism industry with trickle-down effect. Incoming flights multiplied as new routes have been added, resulting to increased passenger arrivals that registered a 19 percent jump in the January-April stretch of 2018, referenced from the same observed period last year.
As carriers, international and domestic, hike their number of flights that touched down on Phuket, the province consequently welcomed hordes of foreign arrivals. The big chunk of the numbers came from the Mainland China, Russia and Australia.
The Big 3, in fact, serve as the monster engine that drives up Phuket’s tourism boom, which shows no hint of letting up anytime soon.
Benefits Of Tourism Growth
The boom is only seen to continue and Phuket’s economy will certainly gain further traction precisely because of an industry that refuses to stop on its growth track. Two things appear to support the flourishing tourism sector of Phuket – the heavy inflow of chiefly Chinese tourists and the high purchasing power of these holidaymakers that also include the Aussies and the Russians.
Money is flowing in at a steady pace and the glaring proofs are aplenty. Hotel occupancy, not surprisingly, is on the rise and this is true for the affordable, upper midscale and the luxurious international brands. The hotel sector, in terms of demand and supply, is on upward trajectory that new hotel constructions are on the pipeline. It is safe to say that in Phuket, the property market is gaining and big thanks to tourism.
Evidently, the national government acknowledges that Phuket’s tourism industry is geared up for further growth, which explains the massive infrastructure thrust in support of the sector. Soon a second airport will be constructed in the province, which should lead to the creation of Greater Phuket Tourism Triangle.
Over the long term, the initiatives are thought to “bring more diversity and refresh the island’s maturing global appeal,” as boldly predicted by the C9 Hotelworks report.
