Phuket facing worst tourism crisis in three decades - half of hotel rooms empty in 2020

[British Bulldog]

Good clean Hotels at reasonable charges, smiling staff (who can speak English), a reasonably priced Mini Bar and pool side bar to help push profits alone and you'll soon be full turning the clients away, once some of the sites like Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor get onto your 'good deal' hotel, it will be full in no time ... higher turnover, slightly less profit than previously, but consistent long tearm profits as you'll be the only Hotel at 95% occupancy !

[taxin]

4 hours ago, chrisandsu said:

As I said on another thread my brother is a first time visitor to Thailand and Phuket and he is shocked at how expensive the place is .

You mean he is shocked at how much Baht he is getting in exchange for his home currency ?

 

Phuket prices have actually not gone up that much. Maybe a 10-15% increase over the last few years. Accommodation prices in general have actually gone down.

[Benmart]

Greed, corruption, crime, pollution and the internet. The later spreads news concerning the former with lightening speed. Gone are the days of snails-paced paperbook editions of what's going in travel world. The endless deception and propoganda regurgitated by various agencies cannot standup to real-time reports and videos from travelers hereabouts.

[malcoml]

Phuket was never that cheap when the baht was weak so it’s definitely not good value now. Those 150 baht beers are now $7.5 for us Ozzies.

[ChasingTheSun]

Seems busier this year compared to last year in Phuket.

 

There are alternatives to Phuket in the region, but overall there is still nothing better than Phuket.

[Chongalulu]

4 hours ago, madmitch said:

Only if the customer base increases, and there are currently no signs of that happening. The hotels are fighting for a finite number of customers and with across the board rate reductions the overall income will be down.

It’s not finite. Customers have other more competitive countries to chose from...and seems that’s exactly what they’re doing.

[Chongalulu]

4 minutes ago, ChasingTheSun said:

Seems busier this year compared to last year in Phuket.

 

There are alternatives to Phuket in the region, but overall there is still nothing better than Phuket.

The people voting with their feet and wallets disagree with you.

[Olmate]

5 minutes ago, British Bulldog said:

Good clean Hotels at reasonable charges, smiling staff (who can speak English), a reasonably priced Mini Bar and pool side bar to help push profits alone and you'll soon be full turning the clients away, once some of the sites like Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor get onto your 'good deal' hotel, it will be full in no time ... higher turnover, slightly less profit than previously, but consistent long tearm profits as you'll be the only Hotel at 95% occupancy !

Just like back home you mean? What would be the cost of that hotel in a Brit resort nowadays? Serious question. 

[AllThaiedUp]

One day they will get it.. maybe not in our lifetime but one day

[peter48]

Two seats on indirect flights Lon to BKK on 19th Dec were circa £3000. That’s 1500 each on low to medium airlines not expensive ones. The Brexit pound remains low at 39 baht. That pre- booked price was like that from about September onwards. Now you know why Brits could not come.

[TTSIssues]

Exactly to be expected - you reap what you sow. So here are some suggestions of how to fix the problem:

 

1. stop rampart over development and stop building more hotels ! Pull down and remove any and all illegal structures, so many illegal Buildings in Patong alone.

2. get rid of the taxi mafia and introduce fair priced public transport: buses, songtheaws, proper meter taxis. Existing taxi drivers can be re-employed as bus drivers doing something meaningful instead of standing all day on the streets hassling tourists and making phuket look shabby. This would also return the streets to the public who pay for them. 

3. stop wasting money on reports dreaming of vanity projects such as light rails & cable cars

4. use the budget earmarked for vanity projects to upgrade infrastructure: water supply, waste water management, garbage collection, pavements (sidewalks), electric cables and supply.
5. stop driving for high levels of cheap package tourists who only stay three days (thus boosting tourist numbers and visa fees), and instead market to higher spending people who will stay longer and spend more money in the local economy - recover lost money on visa fees with more efficient tax collection.

6. Produce an overall integrated plan to take phuket into the future in these environmentally focussed days. Stick to it, and deliver against it. 
7. ideally learn from the Philippines & Maya Bay and shut Phuket for 12 months to all domestic and foreign tourists to allow time for these projects to be implemented and allow phuket time to recover.
 

None of this is rocket science - none of it is difficult to Implement - it’s all been done before in other parts or the world.

 

or just carry on with heads in the sand and continue the decline - which is probably the likely choice sadly. 
 

 

[Olmate]

13 minutes ago, malcoml said:

Phuket was never that cheap when the baht was weak so it’s definitely not good value now. Those 150 baht beers are now $7.5 for us Ozzies.

And the cost of a stubbie over the bar back home? Bearing in mind most day time bars here it’s 60/80 baht

Edited January 3, 2020 by Olmate

[nausea]

Yeah, karma kicks in, 10 years ago it was still pretty good, then something went wrong, <deleted>ty attitudes from the locals turned me off. The strength of the baht means little, you can always lower your prices, it's an excuse disguising a bigger underlying problem. I did meet my SO there though, so I can't complain too much, like a lot of the "locals" she came from another province, running away from problems at home, like shooting a guy who beat her up. Ha! But there you have it in a nutshell, Phuket is full of guys and gals like her.

[ChasingTheSun]

8 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

The people voting with their feet and wallets disagree with you.

Tourists arrivals continue to break record highs.

 

i also noticed an increase in tourists on the ground.

 

i guess they are indeed voting with their feet and they agree with me.

[natway09]

When I was a frequent visitor to Phuket/ Patong on a regular basis I noticed hotels spriging up everywhere with little infrastructure to support it & obviously no thought to any kind of feasibility as to the "bubble bursting" as folks got sick of being so crowded like sardines in the high season.

Not much different to Pattaya/Jomtiem,

Now we are screaming that it has come back to a manageable level but obvious that just too many roome comig on line.

Like apartments in Pattaya/Jomtiem for sale, prices are & will continue for the next 2 years 

to plummet down to 20,000 Bht m2

I do not think the high BHT in itself is a major worry as long as Thailand learns to lift their game & give good service & a bang for the buck something that with all the scams, lack of safety etc is not happening now

 

[pgrahmm]

It's all those quality Chinese tourists booking private homes

in Moo Baans like airbnb's....

 

Probably funded/owned by Chinese keeping all the $$$$ in the loop.....Not a baht spent at a hotel, a couple of van loads at a time for about a week, then the house sits waiting for the next group...

The Indians will improve on that system somehow....

[Chongalulu]

1 hour ago, toenail said:

35...25 years ago it was Paradise but I quit visiting this tourist trap full of thugs and tuk tuk mafia- excessive tourism with a crumbling infrastructure and too many buses. 

I have other Thai islands to visit that are pristine because of no airports. 

For me too,I used to plan and book my Xmas ,new year holiday in Karon almost as soon as I got back from the previous one. Tried Koh Lanta a few years ago from where I revisited Karon after a 5 years gap. No desire to return there now. Lanta is not perfect but about the best alternative for me. 

[BimBoon]

I guess most of those 39 million visitors are staying clear of Phuket.

[Michael Andersen]

5 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai like to just wait instead of actually doing something positive because its in their nature to be lazy not active and this goes for my wife as well .

There can't possibly be two of those can there ???

[madmen]

1 hour ago, Ron jeremy said:

????????????????????????????RIP Thailand.

rot in peace, 

i love it, bring it on!

weirdo

[lmrenolds]

Strong baht. High costs and rude unpleasant immigration. I wouldn’t come back if I didn’t have to. 

[Magenta408]

We are only a few days in 2020. No doubt, a secret hoard of some millions will flock in to save the day. High spending Martians. 

[Tropposurfer]

5 hours ago, chrisandsu said:

As I said on another thread my brother is a first time visitor to Thailand and Phuket and he is shocked at how expensive the place is .

Yeah $2.50 for a coffee is outrageous so is 6 for enough tasty fresh food to fill your belly. I’m appalled. But hey my appalling meter has been busted for years lol ???? 

[Orton Rd]

Went once in 1996, absolutely horrible so never went back. Seems to have become a trend, except for certain filthy rich types.

[khunpa]

18 minutes ago, TTSIssues said:

Exactly to be expected - you reap what you sow. So here are some suggestions of how to fix the problem:

 

1. stop rampart over development and stop building more hotels ! Pull down and remove any and all illegal structures, so many illegal Buildings in Patong alone.

2. get rid of the taxi mafia and introduce fair priced public transport: buses, songtheaws, proper meter taxis. Existing taxi drivers can be re-employed as bus drivers doing something meaningful instead of standing all day on the streets hassling tourists and making phuket look shabby. This would also return the streets to the public who pay for them. 

3. stop wasting money on reports dreaming of vanity projects such as light rails & cable cars

4. use the budget earmarked for vanity projects to upgrade infrastructure: water supply, waste water management, garbage collection, pavements (sidewalks), electric cables and supply.
5. stop driving for high levels of cheap package tourists who only stay three days (thus boosting tourist numbers and visa fees), and instead market to higher spending people who will stay longer and spend more money in the local economy - recover lost money on visa fees with more efficient tax collection.

6. Produce an overall integrated plan to take phuket into the future in these environmentally focussed days. Stick to it, and deliver against it. 
7. ideally learn from the Philippines & Maya Bay and shut Phuket for 12 months to all domestic and foreign tourists to allow time for these projects to be implemented and allow phuket time to recover.
 

None of this is rocket science - none of it is difficult to Implement - it’s all been done before in other parts or the world.

 

or just carry on with heads in the sand and continue the decline - which is probably the likely choice sadly. 
 

 

Yeah, it is not rocket science.

 

BUT those changes would require someone to admit mistakes has been made. This would result in someone having to "lose face" and that is simply not an option!!! 

So best to just keep things as they are........pray, buy an amulet and hope for the best.

[AhFarangJa]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Expectations are that tourism in Phuket will see a 20% decline in 2020. Without government help it could be worse still. 

It is due to the Government that it is in decline in the first place..........

[madmen]

1 hour ago, jlwilliamsjr18 said:

Simple...cash in your baht to dollars or... then hop over the Philippines.  

Why. A downturn is always Good for tourist's. Besides PI is the armpit of Asia !

[SupermarineS6B]

Well done, in only five years the boys with the shiny buttons have turned one of the best nights out in the world into the miserable experience it is today......... Oh and let's not forget the monumental mindless stupidity of the passport stampers........ Well done, Seur smarts all round......... If there was an ounce of sense between the lot of them they'd appoint a bar girl as minister of tourism, at least she would know how to make money without scaring everyone away.......... laughable.........

[ian007]

Worst tourism crisis in 3 decades? What about 15 years ago the tsunami... there were almost no tourists in Phuket for a good 2 years. Has this been forgotten?

[stevenl]

5 hours ago, madmitch said:

Only if the customer base increases, and there are currently no signs of that happening. The hotels are fighting for a finite number of customers and with across the board rate reductions the overall income will be down.

Exactly same is happening in other tourist related activities. Price reduction is not the answer. It makes the numbers look better, but not the bottom line.

Edited January 3, 2020 by stevenl