Thailand’s Phuket works to turn low tourist season into “green season”

Along with advantages of diverse and rich natural tourism resources, Phuket province in southern Thaland is working to improve infrastructure and service quality to lure more holiday-makers to its island of same name during low tourist season which spans from April to October.

About 850 km south of Bangkok, Phuket consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands off its coast. It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Thailand as well as among the most popular destinations in the region and in the world.

In 2023, Phuket's tourism sector saw a strong recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic as it welcomed up to 11 million visitors, generating revenue of 388 billion THB ($10.4 billion).

The strong recovery momentum has been maintained in 2024, as the island welcomed 3.6 million visitors in the first quarter of this year, up 30% year-on-year, and generated revenue of up to 137 billion THB.

With the rosy signals, Phuket has set a target of earning 400 billion THB from tourism activities in 2024. Local authorities and businesses are proposing solutions to turn the low tourist season of the year into "green season" by attracting more tourists and improving its local ecosystem.

According to Thanet Tantipiriyakit, chairman of the Phuket Tourism Association, to attract more tourists, local travel operators are expanding their campaigns to promote local attractions around the world, in which Vietnam is being targeted as a potential market.

Thailand recorded about 1 million visitors from Vietnam in 2023, of which only 80,000 Vietnamese tourists or equivalent to 8% chose Phuket as one of their destinations, Thanet said.

He expressed his hope that number will increase to 120,000 people or 12% this year thanks to direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City.

In an effort to attract more tourists to Phuket, Phuket airport is planning to invest 6 billion THB to build a new terminal for international flights to raise its passenger capacity to 18 million passengers per year from current 12.5 million.

The design project, expected to be completed this year, will be submitted to the National Environment Committee for approval and the project's construction is expected to start in 2026 and last for three years.