Phuket Gains From Bali Bombs

[george]

Phuket gains from Bali bombs

BANGKOK: -- The second round of terrorist bombings in Bali prompted a surge in aircraft movements in Phuket, according to the latest statistics, says Stephen O'Brien, managing director of Knight Frank Phuket. Reflecting the lingering impact of last December's tsunami, a year-on-year comparison showed that flights in the resort island were down by 41.25% in October. However, that was a big improvement from a drop of 53.57% in September and 54.76% in August.

``October was the best month, perhaps on account of the Bali bombing,'' said Mr O'Brien.

Overall international aircraft movements in Phuket during the first 10 months of this year were down by 60.02%.

Total domestic passenger arrivals from January to October were down by 22.14%.

A year-on-year fall in international passenger arrivals during the same 10-month period was 37.95%, far less than expected.

The tsunami seriously affected business on the island, but the figures point to a turnaround in Phuket's tourism and property sector. Mr O'Brien expects to see a pickup from December to February with hotel occupancy reaching 70-80%,

Another major confidence-booster for Phuket was set to be the return of direct scheduled flights from Europe by Austrian Airlines this month. It is the first carrier to resume scheduled flights since the tsunami.

Thai Airways International has also resumed most of its Bangkok-Phuket flights after reducing their frequency earlier.

Statistics on Bali show that Thai tourist arrivals to the Indonesian island during the first three quarters dropped by 35.6% from the same period last year.

--Bangkok Post 2005-11-11