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Arrived less than a year ago, TAT director for Phuket and its region, Chanchai Doungjit looks at increasing the quality of travellers to the Island and acknowledges that more should be done to improve current issues such as safety for travellers and a reliable public transport system.
PHUKET- It could be a safe position to be the TAT Director in Phuket, as the resort island is surfing over the wave of success. The task of Chanchai Doungjit, TAT Director since August 2012, will however not be that easy as he will now need to transform quantity into quality.
Officially, Phuket Island welcomed 6.29 million of foreign tourists in commercial accommodation in 2011. “We certainly reached last year a total of 6.5 to 7 million foreign tourists”, says the TAT Director.
TravelDailyNews: How do you attribute the success of Phuket as a tourist destination?
Chanchai Doungjit: We can first of all speak from a political stable climate after a couple of years of turmoil. We also experienced a growth in new direct flights to Phuket, especially with Middle East carriers such as Emirates or Qatar Airways and Airberlin/Etihad offering now easy connections to Europe via their respective hub. We also see a strong growth from new emerging markets, in first line China and Russia. China is now our largest single incoming market with Russia following in second position. Russia overtook Australia and Germany which are now down to third and fourth position. We do not have figures for 2012 yet but we certainly over-passed the 10-million mark in total visitors’ arrivals.
TDN: How do you try to accommodate the growth and look for more quality?
CD: We try to spread Phuket’s success into other provinces to relieve the Island’s congestion. Our message is to highlight areas in Phang Nga and in Krabi provinces which also offer similar seaside activities and landscapes than in Phuket with their pristine beaches and high quality accommodation. We also want to emphasize more Phuket’s old town for its cultural heritage. We look at increasing the quality of our tourism by attracting higher spending markets. We target niche markets into golf, medical tourism, spa and wellness but also niche travellers looking at meditation, Thai boxing or food. For example, we believe that packages linking Phuket for a typical beach destination to Surat Thani for meditation is a great alternative for travellers.
TDN: The growth in total tourist arrivals is also accompanied by a worrying rise in crimes against travellers. How is TAT fighting the trend?
CD: It is true that they have been reports of crime waves and scams against travellers. This is difficult to avoid when we get so many travellers but we all seriously fight the issue. The Governor of the Province created a Task Force, meeting every week. All parties working in tourism monitor closely the situation. Safety zones have been set up in popular areas such as Patong, Kata and Karon beaches where dedicated security forces are looking at travellers’ safety. The Province requested an additional budget from the Central Government to enhance the total number of CCTV all across the Island. We currently have some 200 cameras but we now hope to be able to purchase a total of 700 cameras watching all main areas.
TDN: How about the improvement of public transport, as tourists complaint regularly over expensive tuk tuk and taxis?
CD: This is a delicate question for Phuket due to the strong lobbying of taxi and tuk tuk drivers. Solutions are studied in coordination with the Provincial Governor to improve the public transport offer. There is an attempt for example to have a new bus service to the airport. A proposal has also been made to develop a public ferry system. But unfortunately, there was no interest signaled from the private sector to manage it. They have been even plans for a rail service linking Phuket to Surat Thani via the airport. But all of it takes time…
TDN: How fast is Phuket moving into new infrastructure projects?
CD: I acknowledge that Phuket is in urgent need for a convention centre which would help attracting high profile events. The island has been waiting for it for now two decades but the project for a convention facility has been many times delayed. It seems now that the Central Group- which runs Phuket Central Festival shopping mall- got the green light to build a conference centre and a hotel across the mall. Thailand’s National Council of Economic and Social Development also agreed in principle for the construction of a new cruise terminal facility to receive in better conditions cruiseliners’ passengers. I must say that we are pleased about the construction of a new international passengers’ air terminal at Phuket Airport, due for completion in 2015. All of these projects are especially important as the number of hotels this year is due to rise by another 2,100 rooms. Last year, Phuket had some 48,000 rooms available in some 750 hotels.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
