The researchers say Phuket did not suffer the same drop in visitor numbers during the middle two quarters of the year that the rest of Thailand did. Political turmoil and the following coup d’etat deterred people from visiting.
The analysts put Phuket’s resilience down to the fact its international airport has good connections with Asia Pacific nations. They also said it was far enough from the centre of the troubles in Bangkok and international tourists felt confident their holidays would not be spoilt.
As the political situation has stabilised, hoteliers on the island say there has been a renaissance in advance reservations and they are looking forward to a prosperous high season. Bookings started to rise prior to the start of the colourful annual vegetarian festival last week.
The festival is due to finish in two days and the KResearch analysts say more than 250,000 visitors will have joined the festivities before it ends. KResearch is an arm of the Kasikorn Bank and carries out assessments of economy related topics in Thailand.
Phuket set for record numbers of tourists
News in Asia
A Thai research agency has estimated Phuket will see a record number of tourists for 2014. Analysts with the KResearch Centre say they expect visitor arrivals to top the 13 million mark by the year end.