Chinese and russian tourists flocking to phuket

More and more tourists to the Thai resort region of Phuket are coming from China, according to new figures out from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and Russia is now threatening to overtake Australia as the second-biggest source of tourists to Phuket in 2011.

Last year, revenue generated from tourism totalled 108,446 million baht, according to TAT’s latest figures, with the average international visitor spending 5,155 baht a day with 9 out of 10 visitors staying in resorts or hotels. Only 6% stay in houses or with friends and 3% use guesthouses, the figures say.

TAT Phuket director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon told OPP that 8 million international visitors went through Phuket International Airport in 2011 and that the following breakdown gives a rough snapshot of the year-on-year increases in Phuket’s top 15 markets for the first three-quarters of the year:

• China 227,431 - up 112%;
• Australia 172,984 - up 24%;
• Russia 160,050 - up 104%;
• South Korea 145,829 - up 28%;
• Sweden 82,267 - up 17%;
• Malaysia 69,145 - up 23%;
• Singapore 63,098 - up 7%;
• UK 48,927 - up 8%;
• Finland 44,096 - up 29%;
• Hong Kong 40,438 - up 37%;
• Germany 36,085 - up 2%;
• France 28,888 - down 1%;
• USA 27,623 - up 17%;
• Japan 26.099 - up 11%;
• Denmark 24,564 - up 5%.

Source: OPP.org.uk